West Fargo Packers hosts pink out basketball game to support teacher battling breast cancer

WEST FARGO — It was much bigger than a border battle between two metro basketball teams.

The West Fargo High School Packers and North Fargo High School Spartans played for a bigger cause Friday, Feb. 10, beating cancer.

"She is such a big part of our school and basketball team," said West Fargo senior Solveig Seymour

Seymour was referring to West Fargo High School math teacher Missy Halvorson.

The theme at the game was, "Just Cure It."

"I like to be the giver, not the receiver, so it's hard when people are nice," said Halvorson.

Just before Christmas, the 47-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"It means a lot people are thinking about me and praying for me," said Halvorson.

Her daughter Ellie has grown up and played basketball most of her life, with many of her teammates on the Packers.

Those teammates include Brylie Peterson and Solveig Seymour. They spent a week last month selling Just Cure It T-shirts and sweatshirts. They sold more than 600.

"Just seeing kids walk around in the shirts today means a lot," said Halvorson.

"It's just cool to see the whole community come together for people that need help," said Peterson.

The pink out expanded from the classroom to the basketball court, where even the Spartans wore the Just Cure It shirts at the game.

Their head coach Brian Kaluza is a cancer survivor himself. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 17.

"It's always bigger than the game. It's always bigger than any individual kid," said Kaluza.

At halftime, there was a special presentation. Miracle minute donation cans were also passed around at both the girls and boys basketball games. That raised another $2,400 for the West Fargo High School Relay for Life Chapter.

GoPromo, who made the shirts, donated $1,198.50 from those sales.

That money will be donated to the West Fargo High School Relay for Life West Fargo High School. Missy has been a coordinator for several years.

"They always say you don't know how many people you touch, and so as a teacher it means a lot to me," said Halvorson.

Halvroson has just started her fight, with 18 weeks of treatment before surgery. Notes left on her desk at school help the wife and mother of three daughters fight this battle of a lifetime.

"It keeps my spirits up, people keeping cheering for me, and rooting for me to keep fighting," said Halvorson.

Halvorson has been handing out math homework for the past 22 years, but this year the homework assignment is to get a mammogram. It may have saved Halvorson's life.

"They said it would take a couple years, several years, for me to be actually able to feel it because it's so small right now," said Halvorson.