Basketball Teams Think Pink for Charity

The boys and girls basketball teams both were victorious Tuesday night, but perhaps the biggest winner was the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which received nearly $1600 in proceeds raised during Chartiers Valley’s second annual “Pink Out.”

Paige Aleski came up with the idea last year as a senior on the Lady Colts’ basketball team, and this year seniors Lexy Herron and Matt Noszka decided to continue the tradition.

The work Aleski put into the fundraiser last year was too much for the school to forget, Herron said. Both the boys and girls wore pink numbers and the rims were accented with pink nets.

“I thought it was a great idea last year with the gym being decorated and the uniforms and everything,” Herron said. “(Aleski) did all that hard work so I decided why not continue the tradition and keep it going.”

The fundraiser was a part of a senior project that all seniors at Chartiers Valley must do in order to graduate. As part of a way to raise money, Herron and Noszka sold pink T-shirts for the games, and raffled off an autographed Kris Letang jersey rather than having a 50-50 drawing.

“Last year, Paige raffled off gift baskets, but I figured people would go for the autographed winter classic jersey,” Herron said. “It was a big hit. We made a lot of money off of that.”

Other than the T-shirts and the jersey, the Pittsburgh Power donated two tickets to its home opener. Those tickets were won by Matt McConnell, son of boys coach Tim, who hit the promotional half-court shot at halftime of the girls basketball game.

Noszka and Herron are both leaders not just on the court, but in the community as well.

But as for their first experience as teammates, Herron says it went well.

“We actually worked really well together and we communicated a lot,” Herron said. “We get along well and we’re both friends. We’re both seniors and leaders, and we communicated well.”