Pink for a purpose

The Mountain Valley boys’ basketball team will be wearing pink wrist bands for the rest of the season and holding a fundraiser for the mother of Cole Clark at its regular-season finale on Thursday.

Gwen Clark was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago and underwent successful surgery to remove a lump from her breast, according to coach Rick White. The team, with the consent of the basketball officials’ board, decided to wear pink wrist bands for the remainder of the regular season and hopes to continue doing so as long as it lasts in the Class B tournament.

“We’re going to write the MPA and see if we can wear them from the tournament. I don’t think they’ll have a problem with it,” White said. “We cleared it with the officials this week because we didn’t want to conflict with what they were doing, plus, by rule, you’re required to wear certain colors as part of your uniform.”

Maine’s high school basketball coaches used white and pink whistles last week and donated a portion of their game checks to cancer research as part of a national “Blow the Whistle on Cancer” campaign.

Proceeds from the Falccons’ home game Thursday night against Telstar will be donated to the Clark family, White said. The game starts at 7 p.m.

“We won’t make a lot of money, but every little bit can help,” White said.

Fox Goes National

Lindsay Fox didn’t know what the presentation prior to Friday’s game with Cony was about, but as soon as she heard McDonald’s name used, she thought it might be about her. She had already been informed that she has been selected to play in the McDonald’s Senior All-Star Game at Husson in March, but Friday’s announcement was much more significant than that.

“They told us the presentation was our band doing someting,” said Fox. “So we had no clue what was going on. I heard McDonald’s, and I thought maybe it was about me.”

It was announced that Fox is a nominee for the McDonald’s All-America Team. It is a distinction that 1,000 players across the country are selected for before a final team of 24 is announced to play in an East vs. West game March 31 in Columbus, Ohio. Fox is one of just seven girls’ players from Maine chosen. The final roster will be announced February 11.

“It’s really exciting,” said Fox. “It’s nice to know that 12 or 13 years of hard work has finally paid off.”

Fox has been a hard-working spark to the Vikings program during her career. She was a key part of the club that won the Eastern A title her sophomore year. This year she leads the team with 9.0 points per game and 2.2 assists.