Sacred Heart School invites families to events

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HAMPTON — Sacred Heart School in Hampton will kick off Catholic Schools Week on Sunday, Jan. 27, with students going to their respective parishes to talk about what SHS means to them followed by a week’s worth of open houses and activities.

On Monday, the 100th Day Challenge begins with students bringing in toiletries and boxed food items for neighboring St. Vincent de Paul. On Tuesday, parents will be invited to sit in on classroom activities and watch their children in action followed by an afternoon of 3-on-3 basketball in the gymnasium. Wednesday is dedicated to the students with a talent show, ice cream sundaes and dress down day. On Thursday, the teachers will be treated to a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast before opening bell with a Wildcat Derby Demo rounding out the day.

The celebration wraps up on Friday with a N.H. State Trooper K-9 demonstration in the gym. Woven throughout the week will be Open House hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Families are encouraged to attend any of the open house days. For information, call 926-3254 or visit www.shshampton.org.

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Fitness Expo in Abilene adds 3-on-3 basketball tournament

A 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be added to this year’s activities at the West Texas Sports and Fitness Expo, Feb. 4, at the Abilene Civic Center.

Teams, either male or female, can sign up for $75 per team for one of three age divisions — youth (12 and under), high school (16 and under) and open (any age). The open division will also offer coed competition.

The top two teams in each division will receive awards, and each division winner will receive T-shirts.

Teams have until Tuesday to register for the tournament.

Jon Smith, executive director of Abilene Youth Sports Authority, which is organizing the Expo, said at least one team from Austin has called to ask about the event.

This will be the seventh year for the Expo, he said.

“It’s a great family activity here in Abilene — something that’s indoors, where parents, grandparents and kids can be together and have fun,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of entertainment for families.”

Besides the tournament, other activities will include a virtual golf long-drive competition; a quarterback shootout (football throw); fast-pitch; and soccer and hockey shootouts. Athletes from high school to the Abilene Ruff Riders indoor football team will be available for autographs throughout the day.

“We’re excited to be out there,” said Joe Brannen, Ruff Riders coach. “A big thing for us, our ownership group and organization is that our players are out in the community. We want guys that are striving to be winners both on the field and out in the community.

“We’ll have four to six guys out there signing autographs and interacting with the fans.”

The event also serves as a kickoff for children to register for spring sports with AYSA.

A number of vendors featuring health and nutrition, sports leagues, sports information and sponsors will be on site throughout the day.

Doors open at 9 a.m., with events scheduled through 5 p.m. Cost is $2 per person. Children under 12 admitted for $1.

For more information or schedule of events, check at www.wtxsports-expo.com, or contact AYSA at 325-692-2972.

New locale could boost Hoop It Up event – Omaha World

Published Wednesday January 25, 2012

By Marjie Ducey
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Hoop It Up Omaha could take off like a rocket on the Fourth of July with its new location and new time, Regional Event Director Dona Smith said Wednesday.

The 3-on-3 basketball competition is moving from downtown Omaha to the Werner Park parking lot and from the month of May to the weekend of July 7 and 8.

“I think this is going to make a world of difference,” Smith said.

Participants will no longer have to pay for parking, and the close proximity to Interstate 80 could attract teams from Lincoln and beyond. The event also will no longer go head-to-head with high school state tournaments and graduation events.

Smith is hoping that the number of teams will spike from about 230 to around 400.

“I can definitely see it growing that much,” she said.

Registration fees for teams of five start at $100 for the youth division and go up to $150 for the Top Gun division. Hoop It Up Omaha is offering teams $20 off for pre-registration between now and Feb. 8.

Smith said there is no limit on the variety of divisions, as long as there are four teams in each. That means co-ed teams, over-50 teams, you name it.

“Anybody who wants to play, I want them to be able to play,” she said.

Besides 3-on-3 basketball, the two-day event will feature 3-point, dunk and free-throw contests.

Smith, who has coached in the youth and high school ranks, has been in charge of the event since it returned to Omaha seven years ago. She also does events in Louisville, Ky., and Indianapolis.

This year, she’s hoping for her best event ever in memory of her son Steve, who died in November at age 31. He played in the event, worked on the road crew and ran the scoreboard. They also coached together.

“He was my right-hand guy,” she said.

The family aspect is one reason she likes the new dates. Families could take vacation time and form a team.

“I love Hoop It Up, and the community really needs Hoop It Up,” Smith said. “It needs more people to come together in a positive atmosphere.”

For information, contact Smith at 402-578-3159 or www.hoopitup.com.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1034, marjie.ducey@owh.com

Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

Basketball tournament scores for Mahwah graduate

Mahwah — According to Daniel Zolotorofe’s family and friends, this was how he would have liked to have seen them: cheering, smiling and laughing while enjoying some friendly competition.

Such was the scene on Sunday, Jan. 15, at Mahwah High School, where a 3 on 3 basketball tournament was held in honor of Zolotorofe, who died in November at the age of 20 after suffering diabetic shock.

The fund-raising event was organized by Zolotorofe’s sisters, Allison, 23, and Jessica, 26, his cousin, Michael Horowitz, 20, and his two best friends, Jordan Kaplan and Nick Kulik. The latter are founders of the DZ Foundation, whose mission is to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and provide scholarships to Mahwah High School graduates to further their educations.

To raise money, the foundation sells wristbands with Zolotorofe’s motto on them: “Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose,” and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation cookbooks.

“We have been active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for a while,” said Allison Zolotorofe, who teaches preschool in Baltimore, Md. “For me, this whole thing is about being able to do something and help other families to prevent what we are going through.”

Kulik said he saw himself as Dan’s big brother and while everyone was sitting shivah, he and Jordan decided they wanted to start a foundation to honor him.

“I always wanted to do something like this tournament for a good cause,” Kulik said. “There is nothing more that Dan would have wanted than to see 300 Mahwah High School kids having a good time and playing ball.”

“In the bigger picture, if Dan’s life could help someone else’s life then I’m sure he would be happy,” Kaplan said.

The tournament drew about 400 spectators — with at least 25 of Zolotorofe’s family members — and featured 100 players on 32 teams.

Allison Zolotorofe said sister Jessica is a civil litigation attorney and helped with paperwork to insure the event and help the DZ Foundation become a legitimate nonprofit organization. She said she reached out to a lot of her brother’s friends and formed the teams while her cousin did a lot of the planning and contacted his own friends to play.

“I am so incredibly impressed by these four young people,” Zolotorofe’s mother, Jill, said of the organizers. “My two daughters and his two friends have made this an unbelievable event.”

Daniel’s father, David Zolotorofe, said he was thrilled about the tournament and said Dan would have been so happy if he had been there.

“He is smiling now,” he said. “This is a great tribute.”

According to DZ Foundation website, Zolotorofe was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes at age 10. In his senior year of high school, he was diagnosed with both Addison’s disease, a disorder affecting the adrenal glands, and Hashimoto’s disease, which affects the thyroid gland. He went into diabetic shock on Oct. 31, and subsequently suffered cardiac arrest, never regaining consciousness, the website says.

Tonawanda residents to take part in some good, wholesome competition

Tonawanda – It’s that time again. Officials from the PTSA of the City of Tonawanda schools have pulled together again this year to host the second annual Winterfest, from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28.

Like true Warrior tradition, the day is packed with a variety of different competitions. To begin the day, a Chilli Cook-Off will welcome chef’s to the Tonawanda High School cafeteria (chef’s must be on site no later than 12:30 p.m.), tasting will begin at 1 p.m.

Chilli will be judged on taste, heat, and consistency. Judging will take place at 3:30 p.m. and winners will be announced at 5 p.m.

A 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be held in the Miller Gym for players in elementary, middle, and high school, playing two eight-minute halves per game. Flag football will be played rain or shine outside on the football field. Late comers may sign up to play flag football upon arrival.

The event is geared toward bringing the community together and providing the opportunity for the whole family to enjoy a day together.

“We used to be individual PTA’s. We re-configured the districts about three years ago, so now we have a centralized PTA,” said Elizabeth Olka, chair of the Winterfest event. “This idea came about because we were trying to pull everyone together and provide an age appropriate day of events. The whole family can come to this event because all the districts are involved.”

The day will feature a Chinese auction. The PTSA is still seeking donations for the auction, as well as donated baked goods to be sold at the event. Suggested themes for baskets are: books, arts and crafts, toys, movie night, games/puzzles, sports, and candy.

Contact Kris Balling at 909-3576 or Angela Stranahan at 550-3245 to donate.

Movies such as “Mr. Poppers Penquins,” “Goonies,” and “Alvin and the Chipmunk,” will be shown throughout the day, while the City of Tonawanda Recreation Department will be sponsoring arts and crafts for the day as well.

For all the gamers out there – the Winterfest event will host a video game competition, during which the games will be displayed on the gym wall. Pair up with a buddy, or compete by yourself.

The high school pool will be open from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., with lifeguards on hand for the day.

Unfortunately for the snow lovers, the weather for outside winter events has not quite held up. However, if the city gets so lucky there will be a snow fort building event, a sledding hill, and a snow sculpture competition.

“I love the snow so I was looking forward to these events. Last year, there was so much snow we had to cancel some of the events, because there was just too much snow,” said Olka.

Food served from the high school’s cafe will be available during the entire event and provided by the City of Tonawanda Youth Board.

Tournament a net-swishing success

Sherman GM

Students camp out for basketball tickets

On Friday night, hundreds of students pitched tents, grabbed their umbrellas, put on their rain boots, and headed to Reynolds where they stayed up all night waiting to receive a guaranteed ticket for the upcoming State-UNC basketball game.

Though it was 48 degrees and raining, students showed their Pack pride in various ways, some by dressing up.

At the Campout event there were five checkpoints, of which students had to complete four. Throughout the evening, students could be heard chanting “check point” to stay awake and get excited.

“I checked in at 7:45 and then went inside where it was warm,” said Keeshan Ganatra, a senior in communications. “It is my first year camping out. I haven’t decided if I’m going to stay up or not. I usually sleep well in the rain.”

Students were able to bring their own camping equipment, but the University also offered rentals. Many students, however, chose to spend the night outside of their tents, talking in the rain with other fans.

Ganatra, who had not realized how much time had passed when he was interviewed at 12:30, was leaving to get food at one of the vendors that stayed open until 2 a.m. for the event.

Making an appearance at the Campout site were Coach Mark Gottfried and various players, including Jay Lewish and Alex Johnson.

While waiting for tickets, student fans enjoyed a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and board games provided by the Union Activities Board.

Hunter Lohr, freshman in engineering, said he enjoyed his first Campout experience.

“All the tents are really cool. It’s definitely worth being here, even in the bad weather,” Lohr said.

Lohr said that among the night’s events, check-in was the worst part.

“Standing in the rain for check-in was annoying, but now that everyone is here it’s just cool,” Lohr said.

With him was Scott Paiement, sophomore in mathematics.

“Camping out for basketball tickets is awesome,” Paiement said. “This is what college life is like. We’re living the dream.”

Though standing in the rain is some students’ example of “living the dream,” others prefer to watch the game on TV, which they can do on February 1 at 8 p.m. For those students who did stay up all night for tickets, the game will be in the RBC Center.

State will play at UNC Jan. 26 before playing the Heels on Tuesday in late February. The last time N.C. State beat UNC at home was Feb. 3, 2007.

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Osier Memorial 3-on-3 youth hoop tourney Feb. 4-5

Waldoboro — The Medomak Valley boys youth basketball program will host a 3-on-3 basketball tournament in memory of Dustin J. Osier on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 4-5 at Miller School.

Teams may consist of three or four players, depending on whether or not the team wants a substitute. Boys and girls in grades three through eight are invited to participate.

Teams will compete at the following grade levels: third-fourth, fifth-sixth and seventh-eighth. The entry fee for each team will be $15, with proceeds going to the Osier scholarship fund.

Memorial t-shirts and concessions will be available for purchase. An admission fee of $2 for adults and $1 for students will apply. Championship t-shirts will be awarded to the winning squad at each level. Teams must register by Wednesday, Feb. 1.

For more information or to register, call Tracie McLain at 380-5708 or email her at gavinmclain@aol.com.

Osier was a Medomak Valley High School graduate and student-athlete who died in an automobile accident last year.

VillageSoup sports staff can be reached by phone at 207-594-4401 or by email at sports@villagesoup.com.

Prep spotlight: Kinnard, Schmelzer make every minute count

Haley Kinnard and Mikki Schmelzer play their best basketball in transition.

But neither of the senior guards sees this season as being a transitional year for the Luxemburg-Casco girls basketball team.

Instead, the veteran duo is viewing it as an opportunity to leave an impression.

After finishing as the WIAA Division 2 state runner-ups last year, the Spartans entered the season with heavy graduation losses and a new head coach in Jeff Jodar.

Given all the changes, Kinnard and Schmelzer knew their varsity experience would be invaluable to the team.

“It’s definitely different than last year,” Schmelzer said. “It’s fun being that leader that people look up to. Our record isn’t where Haley and me want it to be yet, but we’re improving every day and would like to get back at some of the teams we lost to early in the season.”

Despite having to replace 77 percent of the team’s scoring from a year ago, L-C still finds itself on the top half of the standings in the Bay Conference.

The younger Spartans are also battle-tested, having already played the likes of New London, Brillion and Algoma, who are all ranked No. 1 or 2 in their respective divisions.

“We’re just trying to stay positive and keep everybody’s head up,” Kinnard said. “I think starting off the season with a lot of difficult teams really showed us that we had a lot of work to do. We are getting better at those things and it should help us for the tournament.”

Jodar said Kinnard and Schmelzer have been crucial to shortening the learning curve for the younger players on his team.

“I can talk about things as a coach to the younger kids, but they can actually do it by example and share their experiences,” Jodar said. “They’re kind of carrying on that tradition of L-C basketball.

“Our goal is to continue some of the things that have been done in the past. L-C has always been known as a pressure kind of a team, getting up and down the floor and doing a lot out of transition.”

That philosophy showcases the strengths of both Kinnard and Schmelzer, who have been running the court together since 3-on-3 basketball in third grade.

“We don’t have to tell each other what to do on the court, we just know,” Schmelzer said. “It’s fun playing with somebody like that.”

It’s something the tandem isn’t taking for granted in what could be their final season together, as Kinnard plans to continue playing at St. Norbert College, while Schmelzer may do the same if she decides to attend there to become a physician assistant.

“We don’t want to see it end, so we’re going to make every minute out there count,” Kinnard said.

The Flash: Three-On-Three Basketball Fights For the Championship

Runaway week is here. To kick off the week, Tuesday was the first day of the 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the gym during plus and lunch.

The 3 on 3 tourney has become a tradition during this spirit week, as the RHS teachers and students battle each other on the courts.

Many of the teachers look forward to this event, and become quite competitive with each other, such as Mr. O’Donnell and Mr. Adams.

“Mr.Adams plays a football game where he tries to manhandle and manipulate the students with the use of fear, something of a philosophical belief that I can’t be a part of. My game is built on compassion and trustworthiness,” said O’Donnell.

Throughout the week each team played and persevered, hoping to make it to the Finals to earn the champion title.

The two teams that made it to the top were “The Redeem Team “ with Juniors Drew Ardisone, Spencer Gregg, and Anthony Vandre.

Their competition was “Team O’D“ which included Mr.O’Donnell along with freshmen, Max O’Rourke and Jake Toto.

Throughout the game each team gave it their all, hoping to be the next 3 on 3 champions. The game was intense, as the score was close the entire game.

“It was very fun and exciting,” said Vandre.

However, only one was victorious. Mr. O’Donnell’s team came out on top by one point. The score was 37 to 36.

O’Donnell and his team were unstoppable throughout the entire game and tournament.

“We played well, and we worked very well as a team,” said Toto.

“The result was the protagonists came out on top. Today is a brighter day and a better hope for the Rocklin Community,” said O’Donnell.

After coming short last year O’Donnell wanted nothing more than to win the title again. He’s not sure how many tittles he has won.

“I’ve won more than I can count. 2011 was a tough year though,” said O’Donnell.

Although “The Redeem Team” came up short this year they plan on returning next year in hopes of winning the title.

“We won our first game easily, but we lost due to the fact that we couldn’t handle O’D”, said Ardissone.