The score didn’t tell the full story of the Sink Pink game at East Hampton High School on Jan. 28 — though congratulations to Pierson on the dominant 48-19 win. This game was all about two local girls basketball teams coming together in the fight against cancer.
In the gym, both teams wore Sink Pink T-shirts and sold pink paper “bricks” that hung on the wall. Outside, a bake sale also raised money. In total, $2,500 will go to Katy’s Courage, a local nonprofit honoring Katy Stewart, a 12-year-old who died of a rare pediatric liver cancer. Founded in 2012, Katy’s Courage provides education and support for families and children battling cancer.
“We’ve been doing this here for a couple of years now. It’s a great event. I have a personal attachment to this, so it means a lot to me,” said John (Woody) Kneeland, Pierson’s head coach. “My daughter had cancer when she was 15. She went to Pierson and this foundation actually helped her out. So, I give back as much as I can. My girls collected a lot of money and I was really impressed by that. Coach Brooks did a great job organizing it.”
The two teams didn’t have much time to pull the fund-raiser together, but the girls stepped up, proving that we are better when we work together.
“I thought that was awesome. Woody is a great guy, so we figured since we’re always together and are so competitive, that it would be nice if we could do something nice and fund-raise together,” Krista Brooks, East Hampton’s head coach, said. “The girls got together. They all asked people for donations, building the pink sheets. Somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose, but the effort together makes the fund-raising better and it’s all going towards Katy’s Courage.”
