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Soldiers surrender Hoops 4 Heroes trophy

First responders defeat soldiers 61-57 this past weekend

Last Saturday at Pierce Community College, soldiers fought hard to retain possession of the Hoops 4 Heroes trophy. Photo credit: Captain Meriwether Lewis Chapter of AUSA

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Basketball ruled the South Sound this past weekend. While high school teams from around the state hit the hardwood at the Tacoma Dome to vie for the WIAA state basketball championship, Saturday saw an equally epic match-up in the gymnasium of the Pierce Community College Health Education building, where soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and local first responders met to determine who would take home this year's Hoops 4 Heroes trophy.

Hoops 4 Heroes is an annual benefit competition between the Army and first responders sponsored by the DuPont-Steilacoom subchapter of the Captain Meriwether Lewis Chapter of the Association of the United States Army. The fundraiser, which was the brainchild of Baron Coleman, pits local heroes against one another in a heroic effort to raise funds for the area chapter of the AUSA through donations at the door, a silent auction, and a world class raffle featuring everything from Starbuck's gift cards to donations from local merchants to this year's grand prize - a 55-inch big screen TV.  The funds raised from this year's game went toward the AUSA's Single Soldier program which "supports all single soldiers returning to JBLM from deployment," said Karen Getchell, the DuPont-Steilacoom Community liaison.  "When each soldier returns ... (he or she will) find a gift basket ... that contains necessities to get them through until (the soldier's) belongings are secured from storage as well as goodies and gift certificates."

Faced with last year's come from behind 60-53 Army win, this year's first responders did not "intend to go away losers two years in a row," said Getchell. Cheered on by the Lakes High School cheerleaders, the first responders dominated almost from the tip-off by Tacoma's own Alex Montgomery, WNBA guard for the San Antonio Stars and Steilacoom High School girls' basketball coach. After an entertaining half time that included dancing dinosaurs and zombies advertising the AUSA's upcoming Zombie Apocalypse 5K Run (Zombies5k.Eventbrite.com), the soldiers made a valiant attempt to take the lead. But even with the encouragement of the Steilacoom High School cheerleaders, the effort was just too little, too late. In the end, the first responders took home this year's trophy with a final score of 61-57.

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