It’s not unusual for high school sports teams to have a fund raiser to help finance season expenses.
Pleasant Grove’s girls’ basketball team goes into the 2019-20 season with high expectations, and will challenge bigger schools when they play in next month’s Allen Hoopfest. It’ll be the same in the Winnsboro and Hallsville tournaments.
“We want to play great teams to get us prepared for the postseason,” said Pleasant Grove coach Marsha Cowling. “The girls have set a goal of winning a state championship, and the road begins in Allen.
“We want to thank Bob Delgiorno and Fox Sports Texarkana for giving our program tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game. We’re selling raffle tickets, and the winner will be announced Thursday night at Gusano’s (2820 Richmond Road). I hope everyone will come out and buy a raffle ticket to help the Lady Hawks with the team’s expenses of going to Allen.”
Fund raiser will help PG girls go to Allen Hoopfest
Cowling, and three of her players (Shanequa Henry, Bryana Block, Taylor Whitaker) were guests on Wednesday afternoon’s Sports Talk Show.
It was obvious that Pleasant Grove’s coach is excited about the season tipping off soon. The Lady Hawks were 28-4-1 last season, and at least on paper they should be stronger this year.
“The girls have been working extremely hard in the gym and the weightroom,” said Cowling. “We’ve work on our agility, and we’re running a lot. We’ve got a very athletic team, and despite not having any six-footers, we’ll match up fine with taller teams. Our post girls can jump and rebound well.”
This year’s roster features four sophomores, a junior, with the rest being seniors. Leading scorer, senior Shanequa Henry has been a starter since her freshman year. She’s already got the attention of college coaches.
“I expect Shanequa to continue, and even up her game more,” said Cowling. “I know she wants to go to college. We’re counting on her being our leader at both ends of the court. Shanequa is a very unselfish player.
“We think it’s great that Pleasant Grove has already won state championships in football, baseball and golf. We want that, too. The girls know they must work hard, and we must stay healthy and humble.”
Cowling indicated Wednesday that two thousand dollars had already been raised in the fund raiser for the Cowboys tickets. The Lady Hawks’ mentor is counting on a weekend visit to Allen, meaning even more raffle tickets need to be sold Thursday at Gusano’s.