UNITY — The stands were full of fans in the Unity Composite High School gym March 4 at 8:30 p.m. as the senior girls’ Warrior basketball team prepared to challenge some alumni to a fundraiser game.
Warriors alumni who came home to compete in the game were Tianna Watt, Ainsley Orobko, Lauren Gartner, Jadyn Kreutzer and Kylie Hauta. The pink game is a tradition started in Unity in 2015, based on an Assiniboia team's treadition, who had started the game as a way of raising funds for cancer research in 2009.
There was a bake sale table, including merchandise, and a snack booth, with proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society. The pink game was part of a tournament weekend, and was preceded by a demonstration by the juniors (Grade 3 and 4) who showed skill and sportsmanship.
Coach Melnyk honoured two alumni, Tianna Watt and Ainsley Orobk, because they had not been able to play in their senior year; and he also presented bouquets to girls graduating from the team this year: Raicky Baes, Devyn McLean and Jenna Wildeman.
The game itself was great fun, starting out as a serious game, but there were some interesting turns as the senior girls took shifts on the alumni team, giving them a bit of support because there were only five of them to play. The scoring was close toward the end, tied 39-39 at one point, but it was difficult to know who had won when the buzzer went since there were occasional plays made by coaches and in the last few minutes the entire Warrior team was on the floor. There was laughter and camaraderie among players and coaches alike. At half-time the girls participated in a skills competition, performing layups and free throws in two-minute sessions, and were presented with cupcakes as prizes.
“This is a very interesting year for basketball," Coach Melnyk says.
"I’ve only had the pleasure of coaching three of the girls before when they were in Grade 10, since we were unable to play last year. This is essentially a brand new team where most of the athletes had never played in high school and many of them since Grade 8 due to COVID.
"We focused heavily on skill development and fundamentals to start the season.
The girls had competed in five tournaments, taking second place in Kindersley, Thom Collegiate (Regina), and Lake Lenore, and first place at LCBI and Assiniboia.
"The team has embedded their skills in the team systems and our success has taken off lately. We currently own a 20-6 record going into our home annual pink tournament and then into conferences in Osler at VCA.
"I’m very optimistic about potential in the provincial landscape and we are all looking forward to the playoffs.”
