Basketball fever continues to sweep through Roslyn.
On Saturday, March 14, the Roslyn Middle School hosted Hoops 2 Help, Roslyn’s first ever all-day, relay marathon basketball event. The charity organization, Kids Give 360 sponsored the event, which was held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and attracted up to 300 boys and girls from the Roslyn area, representing grades two through high school.
Through participation in the basketball marathon, Roslyn hoopsters were given the opportunity to raise money for three local children’s organizations: Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Shooting Stars and The Foundation for READ.
According to the organizers, Michael and Caroline Weisser, the day was a great success.
“All day children, their parents and grandparents and friends came in with smiles on their faces and helped us to blow past our fundraising goal,” the Weisser’s said. “The total amount raised as it stands is $28,566.32. The referees were outstanding and the event could not have run without all of our amazing volunteers, sponsors and donations.”
The couple would especially like to thank UBS Katz Wealth Management, Lester’s, Christopher Morley Tennis, Camp Jacobson and Kings Building Materials for their support.
The scoring process for the marathon was unique. Each participant was assigned by grade to a team, White or Blue. Each team played in one game and the games ran back-to-back, 25 minutes per game. Early time slots were assigned to the youngest players and evening time slots to the older participants. All day long, the White team squared off against the Blue team and a running score was kept throughout the day with one winner announced when the last game was completed.
After 12 hours of exciting basketball, it all came down to a game between ninth and 10th grade boys. With three seconds left in the final game, Blue was down 502-499. Incredibly enough, a Blue player hit a desperation three-point shot from half court to tie the game. In the first overtime, a Blue player scored on a lay up with five seconds left to tie the game, 504-504.
Naturally, all the players were tired and ready to go home. Still, the tournament needed a winning team and the boys decided to keep playing. Both teams agreed to finish the game with a sudden death basket. The Blue team’s Joe Cinque scored the first basket, giving his team an amazing 506-504 victory. The enthusiasm shown by the players and the competitiveness of the marathon only promises that Roslyn youngsters will continue to give their fans more winning basketball on the high school for years to come.
But the most important part of the day was fundraising. In addition to participating in the marathon, Roslyn area children have been encouraged to fundraise and solicit donations for the three local charities, something they have been doing with marked success. The organizers also said donations are still coming in and that the fundraising challenge will remain open until April 1. Hopefully, the Hoops 2 Help event will become an annual fundraiser.
