Although the girls’ basketball team defeated Marlborough by 50 points on Jan. 26 with a final score of 74-24, basketball was only the second most important thing to the program as the team hosted a “Think Pink Night” to raise awareness for breast cancer.
Both Harvard-Westlake and Marlborough wore pink warmup T-shirts to promote the game.
Students in the week leading up to the game had the opportunity to honor a friend or relative who had battled breast cancer.
These basketballs were hung in Taper Gym the night of the game.
Before the game, Lori Levinson (Dani Mirell ’17) gave a speech to the fans and players in attendance.
Levenson talked about how the disease had personally affected people she is close to and gave thanks to everyone who helped spread awareness for breast cancer.
“To our girls, to our parents, to our teachers, to our friends, to our family, thank you for all you do,” Levinson said. “Thank you for fighting for people, and just remember what we do on the court is not as important as what we do all the time in our lives with helping others.”
The event was hosted in conjunction with Live4Gen, an organization started by Jerica Williams, a former high school basketball player at Mount Miguel High School.
Williams was a teammate of Genevieve Costello, another high school basketball player and collge player at UC Davis who died of breast cancer. According to its mission statement, Live4Gen is “dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness and increasing prevention in the community while honoring Costello, who lost her battle to breast cancer at age 26.”
Today, Live4Gen continues to raise breast cancer awareness by organizing basketball games.
For many players, the night carried extra significance. This win against Marlborough was a signal that the squad is ready for the rest of its season and its post-season.
“There was a great atmosphere all around because we were playing for something greater than ourselves” Sydney Tsutsui ’17 said. “Not only did we spread awareness, but it sparked the whole team’s attitudes to go up against Notre Dame Academy and especially the Oaks Christian game.”
