The skills of Abbotsford basketball talent Jayden Gill were on full display at the Trinity Western Spartans Shoot for the Cure Skills Challenge in Langley on Thursday (Feb. 4) night.
The Robert Bateman Secondary School grad won the women’s individual skills competition event and was also a part of the winning squad for the team competition.
The event saw the TWU Spartans men’s and women’s basketball teams hit the court at the Langley Events Centre in team and individual skills competitions while raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society and other related local and provincial charities in their battle against breast cancer.
Gill edged Hailey Van Roekel in the Skills Competition, finishing the required tasks about three seconds faster than her opponent. She then teamed up with Van Roekel and Kailey Reimer to win the team shooting competition. MEI’s Nicola Peters also went on to finish second in the three-point competition.
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Abbotsford’s Riley Braich took home top spot in the men’s three-point competition, while former UFV Cascade and Fraser Valley Bandit Daniel Adediran won the slam dunk competition and also finished first in the two-ball contest with Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath.
ICYMI, @TrinityWestern's Daniel Adediran won the Slam Dunk Contest at the Spartans Skills Challenge!
— TWU Spartans (@TWUSpartans) February 5, 2021
Check it out👇@FV_Bandits @CanadaWest @USPORTSca @BasketballBC pic.twitter.com/HXLn8bHCch
The event was broadcast free at tfsetv.ca with several family members, friends and former coaches recording personalized video messages for the Spartan players. The closed event diligently followed all the health and safety protocols sets out by British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer and viaSport.
Organized since 2007 in collaboration with the U Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association, the Shoot for the Cure fundraising initiative raises money for the Canadian Cancer Society’s breast cancer initiatives.
“The reality is that cancer impacts everybody,” stated Cheryl Jean-Paul, head coach of the TWU women’s team. “From a women’s sport perspective, breast cancer is something that we want to bring awareness to. Our program has been directly touched by cancer on multiple occasions over the last few years, so we definitely want to be active participants in raising funds to conquer cancer.”
As of Friday, more than $2,700 had been raised by the event.