Article and Photography by Alice Mary Herden
On Friday, January 7th, Lecanto’s Junior Varsity and Varsity Girls Basketball teams, including the boys, challenged Springstead in a four-game one night court battle. They did this to help a local charity organization, People Helping People in Hernando County.
The event stemmed from the idea of Greg O’Connell, Springstead’s retired basketball coach and continuous supporter of the Eagle’s basketball program. O’Connell approached Athletic Director Dustin Kupcik with a generous idea that, if he picked up the tab on ticket admissions, in exchange, spectators could donate non-perishable food items or cash donations for admission towards a local charity. “We organized the event three years ago, and it was a great success. It’s something small we can do to help out our community, but it also helps these kids to understand that they are part of a community,” said Kupcik.
The Hoops for Hunger was again a success and it showed how a community could pull together through organizing a sporting event with a cause behind it. And, of course, watching five-plus hours of good competitive basketball games.
Game Results
Girls JV Lecanto 54 Springstead 16
Boys JV Lecanto 61 Springstead 51
Girls V Lecanto 50 Springstead 46
Boys V Lecanto 48 Springstead 51
The boys will see Lecanto again, this time on January 25th, at the Panthers’ home court; JV tips off at 6 pm. The girls will take on Palm Harbor University at home on January 25th; JV tips off at 6 pm.
People Helping People in Hernando County, Inc. (PHP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit interfaith organization established to provide basic necessities to impoverished people in our local community. Besides providing food, PHP will link people to benefits, education, training, and resources empowering them to help themselves to become productive members of Hernando County. https://www.phphernando.org/
