A Shot For Life adds All-Star Game to its events, raises over $40,000 for cancer research

When the 10th annual A Shot For Life Shoot 4 a Cure Challenge took place on Sunday at Starland Sportsplex in Hanover, former Hopedale girls basketball star Bri Frongillo was moving into her dorm at Bryant University.

Last year, Frongillo came in second in the two-hour shooting competition after she shot a clean 78 percent from the field. This year, though, was a little bit different as she had to shoot alone with her dad on Friday at St. Mark's gym in Southborough ahead of Sunday's ASFL Challenge.

"It was a little bit more difficult just because when you are surrounded by everybody there is more energy in the building," Frongillo said. "They have the music going and you can keep an eye on everybody which you can use to motivate you to keep going. By yourself, it's a little bit more challenging."

This year Frongillo shot 76.3% from the field. For Frongillo, the initiatives of ASFL, a sports based non-profit organization that funds health and cancer research initiatives, particularly hit close to home as her dad fought and beat cancer before she was born.

Hitting close to home: A Shot for Life Shoot Challenge hits close to home for Bill and Bri Frongillo of Hopedale

"Obviously it means a lot because my dad had cancer," Frongillo said. "Regardless of that it's just a great organization to be a part of something like that.

"I think everybody has a person that they know that have dealt with cancer and gone through these things," she added. "I'm really happy to be a part of it and be able to participate in things like this while doing something that I love like basketball."

Franklin's Olivia Quinn is also a returning A Shot For Life participant. The soon-to-be Wesleyan University freshman has been involved with ASFL since her sophomore year of high school.

"I joined because it is such a great cause and I am able to make a difference in other people's lives," said Quinn, who shot 66.2% in the Shoot 4 a Cure Challenge. "Additionally, so many amazing players and people have worn the ASFL jersey before me, so it is really an honor."

For Milton Academy's Austin Hunt, of Marlborough, while this was his first time participating in the ASFL Challenge, he had already heard great things about the organization.

"I had been aware of the A Shot For Life competition for a couple years before I was asked to compete in it," said Hunt, who shot 76.7% in the competition. "I saw posts about the competition and knew kids that have competed in it before, so when I got a text from Mike (Slonina) asking to interview to join the ASFL family program I was honored.

"I have family members who have had cancer," Hunt added. "So when I was asked to be part of the this organization it was a no-brainer."

In addition to shooting hoops for two hours, participants have to raise money for cancer research. Frongillo and Quinn raised just over $1,000 each, while Hunt was able to raise over $2,100.

Boys shooting champion Trevor Mullin, a senior at St. Sebastian's School, won the competition by shooting 87.1% from the field. The Wellesley resident and Yale commit also raised about $2,000 for cancer research.

"It's one of the biggest moments of my life," Mullin said. "We've had struggles with cancer in my life. My grandmother passed six years ago from cancer and a good friend of ours, my neighbor, passed away from cancer a couple of months ago.

"So competing and raising money for this amazing event is just an honor."

Overall, a total of over $40,000 was raised for cancer research through the ASFL Shoot 4 a Cure Challenge.

A new spin that was added this year was an ASFL All-Star Game. The star-studded event was played on Aug. 2 at The Rivers School in Weston.

"A lot of those guys, I've never played on the same court as them before," said Hunt, who dunked in the exhibition contest. "It was a lot of fun because all of them are really good. We weren't going all out, but it was still good and fun to get on the court with these guys and being there for a good cause was special."

Based on player feedback, the All-Star Game may become a permanent fixture of ASFL.

"(A Shot For Life founder and CEO) Mike (Slonina) was asking me if they should continue to do it and I said, 'Absolutely,'" Frongillo said. "I had a lot of fun with some of the best players around, so it was good competition."

Ethan Winter is a senior multimedia sports journalist at the Daily News. He can be reached at ewinter@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @EWints.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Wellesley's Trevor Mullins wins ASFL Challenge for cancer research