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Game raises money for cancer research

City Hill Middle School eighth-grade social studies teacher Tom Tousignant, right, drives past Naugatuck High School sophomore Alyana Sosa during the annual Clash for the Cure basketball game March 24 at Naugatuck High.–LUKE MARSHALL
City Hill Middle School eighth-grade social studies teacher Tom Tousignant, right, drives past Naugatuck High School sophomore Alyana Sosa during the annual Clash for the Cure basketball game March 24 at Naugatuck High.–LUKE MARSHALL

NAUGATUCK — Naugatuck High School students and faculty clashed on the basketball court last week to raise money for cancer research.

The annual Clash for the Cure, which is hosted by the school’s DECA chapter, pit current NHS basketball players against staff in a basketball game March 24. The event raised $3,200 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, NHS teacher and DECA adviser Tim Reilly said.

The money goes toward the fundraising effort of the Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Gears bicycle team, which Reilly is a part of, that is doing the 192-mile Pan-Mass Challenge Bike Ride a fundraiser for Dana-Farber, in August.

In the nine years DECA has hosted the Clash for the Cure, it has raised just under $31,000 for the institute, Reilly said.

Naugatuck High School teacher and DECA adviser Tim Reilly shoots over sophomore Molly Kennedy March 24 during the Clash for the Cure basketball game. –LUKE MARSHALL
Naugatuck High School teacher and DECA adviser Tim Reilly shoots over sophomore Molly Kennedy March 24 during the Clash for the Cure basketball game. –LUKE MARSHALL

For the fifth year in a row members of Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Gears took time to recognize Woodland Regional High School freshman Justin DaSilva at the event.

DaSilva, 14, of Prospect, has Ewings Sarcoma, a bone cancer.

In addition to being a guest of honor at the Clash for the Cure, DaSilva is Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Gears’ “pedal partner,” which means the team rides in honor of him.

“He’s a boy who we helped him along during his fight and we will continue to do so,” Reilly said of DaSilva. “He’s our pedal partner. He’s our hero.”