SACO — Bathed in a pink glow that almost lit from within, the Thornton Academy gym filled with crowds wearing Hoops for Hope t-shirts to raise funds for the fight against cancer during the Hoops for Hope basketball series Saturday. The Trojan ladies had prepared diligently for two fights tonight, the first fight to raise funds for cancer research and the second fight against the Bangor ladies.

Thornton Academy’s young leader in the fight for cancer research, Hannah Cook was recognized for individually raising the most money. Cook raised $1,083 USD during the fundraising initiative leading up to the Hoops for Hope event.

While TA took an early lead, it was clear before the end of the second period the teams were evenly matched. Before the close of the second, Bangor had closed in to trail 2 points, 26-24 with three and a half minutes remaining. At that point, both teams were on a foul streak of eight each and more fouls before the close of the second held dangerous opportunities for Bangor. Luckily for Thornton’s deep bench of competent players, they gained a little distance to end the half 30-26.

The third period slowed down, as if both teams sensed the game could change drastically with the smallest mistake. Before the buzzer the score had creeped up to 35-34, but Bangor had taken the marginal lead.

Entering the fourth period, TA magicked up five points in less than two minutes to lead 40-35, though Bangor caught up shortly. At less than five minutes remaining, a 41-41 tie made the game a pink rollercoaster for fans.

A slew of fouls ran out the remainder of the clock to offer Bangor opportunity to take the lead to 49-44 when the raffle winner was announced during time out. TA was behind but within reach with 26.9 seconds in the game, 49-46 to Bangor. Fouls led to three points for Bangor in those last moments to close 52-46.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.