It was a time to celebrate basketball on Sunday evening at Vanier Secondary School. For the third year running, the Canadian Filipino Sports Association of Yukon (CFSAY) and the Whitehorse Women’s Basketball League tipped-off in exhibition games.

The team’s on either side of the court featured a selected group of players making up all star squads.

The exhibition games were held on the CFSAY’s last day of 2019. CFSAY president Aldrin Manalad, told the Star last year that the games are a “way to have fun and do some bonding with other teams as well.”

Lianne Fordham, who is one of the organizers of the Whitehorse Women’s Basketball League, has played in the games for the three years they’ve been held.

Fordham said the Women’s League athletes who play in the exhibition really appreciate the competition.

“It’s an interesting match because it is women against men,” said Fordham. “I know it might make some men uncomfortable and they have been so gracious to play us every year.

“We love the competition. We love the different styles of play. Again they are so great. Their manpower is a little bit stronger than ours but no one gets hurt and it’s a lot of fun.”

Fordham believes having the two leagues come together is great for the sport.

“I think it’s such a great thing for the basketball community to come together and to have our leagues have some sort of competition and tournament this way,” said Fordham.

Last year, her team got the win 78-68, as they got hot from behind the three-point arc to go along with stellar defence.

The 2019 installment of the game came down to the wire and it was the CFSAY men’s team that squeaked out an 84-82 win.

The Women’s team got out and running in the first quarter. They had good strong box-outs to secure rebounds and were quick in getting the ball to their outlets and getting out in transition to get easy buckets.

On defence, they closed down the paint forcing the CFSAY players to shoot from the perimeter.

The Women’s team took a 28-20 heading into the second quarter.

The CFSAY team began to find their rhythm in the second stanza. The pushed the ball so the Women’s side couldn’t set up on defence and they got easy points at the rim. Their rebounding improved which led to second-chance opportunities.

Midway through the frame, the women took control of the game again, and scored from all over the court, at the rim, from the elbows and behind the three-point arc. They took a 43-36 advantage into the break.

After halftime, the women continued to execute and had good ball movement. This led to open shots that they hit at a respectable clip.

The men continued to push and got points on the break and further cut into the lead trailing by six points heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth, the two teams were knotted at 80 with two minutes remaining. The men got two buckets in transition to build a four-point lead. In the waning seconds, the women got one basket back but couldn’t generate a clean look to tie it.

Fordham said after the game the Women’s team gave it all they had.

“A little bit tired and they have big strong players too,” said Fordham. “And they are fast, we gave it our all, but it’s always just a lot of fun every year.”