February was a busy month for our program, kicking off with our annual Shoot-a-thon Fundraiser on February 4. We raised over $10,000 and collected plenty of non-perishable food for the community. Most importantly, the players had a lot of fun!
On Friday, February 16, we celebrated CYA Night at the Catoctin Lady Cougars basketball game. This was in conjunction with their Breast Cancer Awareness Night, so there was a packed house on hand to see this hard-working group of ladies, who would eventually go on to win the CMC Championship.
February is also a bittersweet month, as players who have been in our organization for many years—some as far back as Kindergarten—prepare to move on from our program to the next level of high school. We held recognition ceremonies for both the girls and boy’s 8th graders from our Mid MD Programs.
The Girls’ Varsity team would go out and defeat Oakdale by a score of 60-23, while the Boys’ Varsity lost in a tough matchup against Smithsburg. We also used the Boys’ ceremony as an opportunity to recognize the contributions of two long-time coaches from within our program: Eric Harvey and Jenn Cregger. Both will be moving on after this season, and they were surprised by returning players from the Catoctin JV team, who presented them with some nice parting gifts. CYA Basketball would like to thank them for their many years of dedicated service!
Speaking of our Mid MD program, we had two teams win division championships this season. The Girls’ Varsity, led by Dwight Baumgardner, went 9-1 to win the Chesapeake Division. While the Boys’ JV, also went 9-1 to win the Piedmont Division in their league. Congrats to both teams on an amazing season, and best of luck in the playoffs!
The month wound down with a rare matchup between two of our U14 MYBA Boys teams. They battled it out in front of a huge crowd of their families and friends at Thurmont Middle School. Coach Kiona Black’s team would come out with the victory, to secure the bragging rights for this year.
And, finally, we closed out the month with CYA Basketball Day at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Players received discounted admission by wearing their CYA jerseys and were invited on court at halftime to participate in a huge game of “Knock Out.” Everyone was treated to a big Mount victory over Iona. It was an exciting way to cap off an extremely busy month.
