WELLS — On Jan. 17, the girls basketball programs at Wells Junior High School and Wells High School held the sixth Annual “Shootin’ for a Cure,” an all-day free throw extravaganza to honor pledges previously garnered by team members raising thousands of dollars for breast cancer care at York Hospital.

This year, the ballplayers raised $35,000 for York Hospital’s Breast Cancer Living Well Fund and Heart Care for Women.

From morning till evening, 64 fifth through 12th grade student-athletes, all in pink uniforms, shot 50 free throws each. According to Lady Warriors Coach Don Abbott, eighth-grade student Mackenzie Foss was the free throw champ of the day, scoring 43 out of 50 tosses at the basket. Freshman Olivia Durfee was this year’s fundraising champion, raising just under $1,200. In the evening, a ceremonial check covering the amount raised was presented to representatives of York Hospital including York Hospital President Judd Knox.

It was closeness to a friend whose wife had breast cancer, and knowing some team members whose relatives were suffering with the disease, that inspired Coach Abbott to create Shootin’ for a Cure. To date, Shootin’ for a Cure (along with a partnership between the Lady Warriors and the Wells Rotary Club in the sponsorship of the Chuck Cumming Memorial Golf Tournament) has raised more than $160,000 for breast cancer care at York Hospital.