Golden Valley High Schools lies 1,562 miles from Cypress Springs High School in Houston, Texas – but that did not stop the Grizzlies’ boys basketball squad from helping out their brothers in need.
The team hosted its first ever Hoops for Houston fall showcase on Sunday and donated all proceeds from the event to the Cypress Springs boys basketball team.
“When Hurricane Harvey hit and we saw the devastation, it really kind of touched our hearts in terms of wanting to do something,” said Golden Valley head boys basketball coach Larry Keys.
Keys, now entering his third season at the helm, saw basketball as an opportunity to give back.
“We put together the idea of doing a fall showcase, since teams want to play, and we reached out to the basketball community,” Keys said. “Basketball being what we do and our platform, we decided to try to do something using it as a way to help.”
Two of Key’s assistant coaches have ties to the Houston area, and one has contacts involved with the Cypress Springs program.
“Cypress Springs High School is kind of our brother school and we’re going to send the money from the showcase to try and offset any costs that they have with just being able to put on a season.”
For Cypress Springs, this will be crucial. The costs associated with running a program alone are hefty; and for one that just endured a hurricane, they will be even higher.
10 teams from around the CIF Southern Section attended the showcase, each hoping to earn some early season momentum while helping those in need.
The Grizzlies sold snacks, shirts and auction tickets for a basketball signed by retired NBA star Kenny Smith in order to raise as much money as possible for Cypress Springs.
“We recognize how blessed we are in this community. We’ve dealt with earthquakes and stuff ourselves in this state but we’re blessed to not be dealing with a lot of what people are struggling with right now,” Keys said.
“We just want to make sure everybody knows that we have not forgotten, that they understand that people out here are praying for them and that we’re going to do whatever we can on our end to help them out.”
