Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, December 06, 2011

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Between the A and B games, Tates Creek Middle School honored the eighth-graders playing their last home game. The girls are flanked by coaches Kendra Johnson and Mike Webster.

The Tates Creek Titans head into the girls’ middle school basketball tournament on a roll, having won the season finale in their new gym and raising more than $1,000 for prostate cancer research.

Monday night’s “whiteout,” where the team encouraged everyone to buy and wear special blue-ribbon T-shirts, turned the spotlight on men’s health on the heels of November’s nationwide emphasis.

Tates Creek could not schedule the event last month because the Titans were still playing away from home during schoolwide renovations. For the past two seasons, in fact, the girls turned out at 6:30 a.m. to practice at the high school next door and played all their games on the road.

The planets finally aligned at the start of December: The Titans slipped in one practice and two nights of games on their home court and also hosted a successful fundraiser. In addition, the school recognized the eighth-graders who will move up as well as last year’s A and B teams, who both won the county championships.

“You haven’t been able to wipe the smiles off their faces since they opened the new gym. They are so excited, and the student body is so excited,” Coach Kendra Johnson said. 

The enthusiasm carried over to the whiteout, too. The school’s athletic teams are fully on board with community service projects, which have become a priority since Tates Creek was approved for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.

Johnson’s squad decided to focus on prostate cancer awareness because her family was affected by the disease, as were those of Assistant Coach Mike Webster and the principals.

“All of our fathers have been diagnosed, treated or are recovering from prostate cancer. This is an issue that is very important to all of us,” Johnson said. 

The men of Tates Creek Middle, including Principal Greg Quenon, also grew moustaches and beards during “Movember” to raise awareness.

Eighth-grade hoops player Mary-Carter Downing, who helped with a Toys for Tots project during volleyball season, noted that the Titans’ whiteout fell within the annual Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research.

This annual initiative (Nov. 30 – Dec. 6) featured themed content across ESPN platforms and programs to support The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Jim Valvano, who coached men’s basketball at North Carolina State, died of bone cancer in 1993. The foundation named for him supports efforts to find cures for all kinds, including prostate cancer.

“We just want people to recognize this is such a big deal and it’s a common cancer,” Mary-Carter said before the whiteout at Tates Creek. “And we want them to know that so many people have been affected and we need to raise a lot of money.”