On Saturday, January 20th, both the men’s and women’s basketball squads defeated Lancaster Bible College in the annual special event to raise awareness about distracted driving.
The Penn State Harrisburg basketball teams have enjoyed much success to start this season, and while the success continued against LBC, the day was about so much more than just basketball. Every year, Penn State Athletics partners with the Orange 4 Owen organization for a special basketball event to warn against driving while distracted. The men’s team handled business 80-72 in the first game, and the ladies followed suit by a score of 82-57.
According to the organization’s website, the foundation was born in 2011, when 8-year-old Owen Cole Brezitski was killed by a distracted driver on her phone outside Bishop McDevitt High School. The mission statement is to “promote pedestrian, driver, traffic, and childhood safety and all aspects of community safety as well as raise awareness of the consequences of distracted driving practices.” The Capital Union Building was packed for both games. Coaches and fans sported bright orange hoodies, shirts, and socks to honor Owen, giveaways took place, and the foundation collected 150 safe driving pledges.
Coaches and players alike shared the sentiment that Owen’s story continues to be impactful thirteen years later. Some even remarked that the emotion of Owen’s legacy drove the teams to victory.
“We talked to the father of Owen during our practice, and seeing his emotion and how it still impacts somebody to this day, you can just feel it too,” said star senior guard Jayla Galbreath of the Lady Lions.”
“Owen would have been our age,” remarked star senior guard Donyae Baylor-Carroll of the Lions. “It meant something for all of us on the team. We wanted to play hard for [his family]. Keep it in the back of your mind that you gotta take every day and cherish it like it’s your last.”
“For us to win this game and understand what we were playing this game for was huge. We’re wearing orange shirts and socks, but tomorrow we’ll take them off and be back in our own little world in a way. Owen’s family lives that every day.”
Emotions ran high, and it translated to the court as well. The mean’s team kicked the evening off with a win that Coach Friday attributed to early aggression and a fast pace.
“The big thing for us was handling their tempo with the press and making sure that we were aggressive,” said Friday. “In the second half, we got a combination of easy baskets, quick baskets, and some attempts to score where we got the ball downhill in the post.”
Baylor-Carroll led the way for the Lions with 30 points, and fellow senior guard Nate Curry managed a double-double. The usual Batman and Robin duo engineered a win once again.
Baylor-Carroll was happy with his strong effort, noting that it felt good to play well after a difficult stretch.
“Honestly I’ve been struggling as of late,” he commented, “so today it felt good to get it going. My teammates definitely help pick me up when I’m struggling a lot. My mindset was to take it one play at a time.”
Coach Friday was impressed with the play of his star guards, but he attributed their success to more than just raw physical ability.
“When your best players are also your best people – and they work really hard – good things happen.”
“Owen would have been our age. It meant something for all of us on the team. We wanted to play hard for [his family]. Keep it in the back of your mind that you gotta take every day and cherish it like it’s your last.”
-Donyae Baylor-Carroll
The women’s team was a bit more dominant, crushing LBC by a whopping 25 points. The team had 21 assists to LBC’s 13 and they managed 21 points off turnovers compared with just 11 for the visiting team.
“We did a really good job of sharing the ball tonight,” said Coach Ross. “We had a ton of assists, we trusted each other, and we collectively played strong defense.”
The usual suspects were on their A-game for the Lady Lions. Senior guard Giahny Correa led the way with 22 points and senior guard Ciani Redd-Howard had eight rebounds. Galbreath had perhaps the most impressive performance, burying 7 of 15 shots from beyond the arc. The entire LBC team made just two threes in the entire game.
“I had a good warmup,” Galbreath admitted with a smile. “Before the game I was like, ‘yeah, this is it, this is a great game today.’”
Coach Ross remarked on Galbreath’s humility as a driving force of her success.
“She’s very others-oriented, she’s not about herself, and the opportunities that come her way are created because of her unselfishness.”
While the wins were hard-fought and well-earned, everyone agreed that the highlight was playing for Owen and raising awareness.
“We’re honored and blessed to be able to give something back to help the Brezitskis with healing,” said Coach Friday. “ We also want to make sure that never happens to somebody we know and that we are never involved in something that could create a tragic outcome through distracted driving.”
Penn State Harrisburg wraps up the season with four conference games, including two on the road (Gallaudet, Lancaster Bible College), and two at home (St. Mary’s, Penn State Abington)
To keep up with basketball and all other Penn State Harrisburg athletics year-round, visit https://athletics.hbg.psu.edu. For more information about the Orange 4 Owen Foundation, visit http://orange4owen.org.
