Playing toward a cure

When the Abington Heights Comets and Scranton Prep Classics take to the basketball court each season, a competitive and hard-fought game is the norm. With two of the area’s most winning coaches on the sidelines—Vince Bucciarelli and Ross Macciocco— and overflowing crowds in the bleachers, all the ingredients are in place.

But when the two teams next meet for a game, an additional element will be added. And, regardless of the final score of the contest, this opponent is far more devastating than any high school athletic contest.

For the second consecutive season, the girls’ basketball programs of Abington Heights and Scranton Prep will meet in the annual Pink Night game when the teams square off in a Lackawanna League Division I contest on Thursday evening, Feb. 4. The theme for this year’s game, which will be played at the Saint Francis Xavier Center on the Scranton Prep Campus, is “Hoops for Hope.” All funds raised in the endeavor will benefit the Smart Girls initiative of the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, which educates young women in their teens and early 20s about the benefits of early breast cancer awareness and detection.

“The Smart Girls, Wise Women initiative is a relatively new program, aimed at encouraging good breast care habits in women from a young age,” said Kristen Hake Klemish, Community Relations Coordinator for the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute. “This is our first year in partnering with Scranton Prep and Abington Heights in the Pink Night program, and we are happy to see this type of community awareness on this very important subject.”

In its second year of operation, the event was first organized by the girls’ basketball coaching staff at Abington Heights High School, when the Comets hosted Scranton Prep last year. For this season’s game, the Scranton Prep Booster Club was contacted by the Abington Heights coaches about the possibility of having the same theme continue when the teams meet at Scranton Prep in the second half of the season. It was a request that the involved parties at Prep were happy to answer, according to both Vince Bucciarelli, head girl’s basketball coach at Abington Heights, and Margo Opsasnick, a Scranton prep Booster Club member and CEO of the Breast Care Center at Delta Medix in Scranton.

“I’ve been coaching girls’ basketball since 1976, and wanted to do something to give back to the community in a positive manner,” Bucciarelli said, of the start of the initiative. “I have to give credit to the Lady Comet Basketball Club. Our parents did a fantastic job organizing the entire program last year after I brought up the idea. The Scranton Prep parents have been fantastic to work with as well. They contacted us about having the game at their gym this year, and we were happy to work with them on it.”

“It is tremendously satisfying to see so many people become involved with a cause that fills as big a need as this program does,” Opsasnick said of the support the event has received. “There are currently many programs directed at middle-aged women in terms of breast cancer awareness, but not much in terms of younger women, in the 12 to 20-year-old age range. The Smart Girls, Wise Women program fills that need, and this event allows us to take that a step further in the community.”

The “Hoops for Hope” game is set for Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Saint Francis Xavier Center at Scranton Prep. The event starts with a JV game at 6 p.m., and the varsity contest at approximately 7:15 p.m. Those attending are asked to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Commemorative pink T-shirts will be available for sale before and during the game, with proceeds going toward the Smart Girls, Wise Women program.

To purchase a T-shirt in advance of the contest, or for more information on the event, contact Margo Opsasnick at mopsasnick@deltamedix.com or 570.947.3541. For details on the Smart Girls, Wise Women program, contact the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute at 570.941.7984.

AJ Sports

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