February 8, 2006
Hoops honors Heintz
Basketball contest played in memory of St. Francis student
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"Katie, you're still with us every day."
Playing hard but having fun for a good cause, four teams participated in the Katie Heintz Memorial Basketball Tournament Saturday night at St. Francis High School. Praying before the games began, Pat Cleland, basketball coach for the school, invoked the spirit of Heintz, a beloved student at the school, who died of leukemia last August .
Only 16 when she died, Heintz left a legacy of faith that inspired all who met her.
"She was very pure hearted and full of faith," said Mallory Golden, a junior at the school and a close friend of Heintz's. "She was probably the most faith-filled person I've ever met and she lived her faith to the fullest."
Golden, a classmate of Heintz's since preschool, recalled Heintz's contagious smile and love of sports: she played basketball, volleyball and softball.
"When you saw her smile, you wanted to smile yourself," she added.
The event raised $4,300 for a proposed pediatric oncology unit at Munson Medical Center, a dream of the Heintz family. This is more than double the amount raised during last year's tournament.
"The goal was to raise $4,000 and we exceeded that by a couple hundred dollars," said Carol Erickson, the Key Club advisor at St. Francis High School. "If the [pediatric oncology] unit does go through, we'll give them their first check."
Key Club and the Builders Club, a service organization for middle school students that has a chapter at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, organized the event.
"We began before Christmas," said Becca Newman, a senior at the school and vice president of the Key Club. "People were very responsive."
Four teams faced off that night, including the ten-member Heintz family team, a team of Grand Traverse Area Catholic School faculty, a student team and a team of Kiwanis Club members. Each team sported color coordinated tournament shirts, all with the words "We Believe Katie Style" on the back.
Each game consisted of two 20-minute halves with a running clock and each team played two games. The final game pitted the GTACS faculty against the Heintz family team, with the latter winning 53-48, an outcome that seemed appropriate.
"I played last year for the first time and we had a lot of fun," said Wayne Mueller, development director for the school. "Basketball is just the easiest way to get people to come in and raise money, it's a good mid-winter break."
Of course, basketball is not everyone's avocation and even with Cleland's coaching, the faculty team lost the final game.
"Some of us are athletes and others are bench warmers," said Cindy Weber, the director of admissions and marketing for the schools and a member of the faculty team. "For a good cause, you're willing to do just about anything."
The evening's first game featured a rematch between last year's only two participating teams: the Kiwanis Club team and the GTACS faculty team. This hard fought game went into a two-minute overtime after a dramatic three point basket by the Kiwanis team tied the score with six seconds remaining. After a tough 90 seconds, the faculty pulled it out in the end and won 39-37.
"This is a rematch from last year and we won then," said Bob Sagan, a member of the faculty team.