A great day was had by all last Saturday as Preston Pride Basketball Club held a charity day in aid of St Catherine's Hospice. Throughout the day the club organised a number of events open to juniors and seniors which included a 3-point Shoot-out, Skill Competition, Team Event, Slam Dunk and All-Stars Game. In total, near 100 people attended the day with a vast range of ages participating in all events. The day started with the U14 2-point Shoot out to which Samantha Byrom hit the most points to win. The open age event turned out to be a classic as Phil Thomas & Gareth Westwood could not be separated and as such the final went to a second overtime to which Gareth held his head to victory. The Skill's competition was just as exciting with a number of skills involved such as passing, lay-up's, shooting & dribbling. Aaron Wadsworth took the U14 trophy, but not only that, made the final in the open age category. Joining Aaron was Phil Thomas, Matt Dewhust & Mike Dawson and with an unbelievable lightning clear round Mike Dawson set the pace to which no one could match and take the title. The Team event was a combination of shooting around the zone and finishing off with a half-way line shot. The final was contested by an U16 verses an U18 team, to which; surprisingly was very close, but the U16 team; made up of Owen Stanley, Sam Green and Sam Heafield came out victors as they cleared the shot's around the zone and hit the big shot in 48 seconds. The Slam-dunk competition was split into two categories, over and under 6-foot. In the Under 6-foot category (9' Height Ring) Sam Green impressed the judges most with a good range of dunks, but in the main event, Adam Kusnierek slammed some impressive dunks to take the trophy. A mention has to go to Sam Fitzpatrick who just could not complete a dunk by jumping over his younger brother Isaac. The final event was an All-Star game to which was contested in great spirit. Height differences ranged from 4' 6” to 6' 6” and with commentary throughout was fun and a great way to finish off the day.
Mark Baker; Chair of Preston Pride, thanked all who participated and stated that to hold such an event where all ages could participate, have fun and along the way raise money for St Catherine's was just great. Plaques presented by Dave Mann and sponsored by Ad-OPTIONS. |
