Lake Oswego, West Linn basketball teams join together to support kids fighting cancer

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KPTV) - An inspiring story is unfolding on a high school basketball court. Two teams put the competition aside to fight for a pair of local teenagers battling cancer.

The first ever LtP Legends Game took place at Lake Oswego High School Wednesday night. The team faced off against West Linn, but if you looked beyond the breakaways and baskets, you’d notice there was much more on the line than a game.

“Just seeing all the teams do something for me and have a tribute, it was just great,” 16-year-old Ellie Shorter, who recently underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, said. “It’s so much to process. These people, we’re about to play them in a game and try to win…there’s always going to be a winner and a loser, but in this case, everyone’s winning, because we’re all coming together.”

In the stands at the game you could spot bright t-shirts in the crowd. The green represented Shorter, the Canby Junior soccer star who was diagnosed with cancer in September. The purple and blue tee-shirts represented 19-year-old Brock McNown, a graduate of Lake O, who’s also fighting Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“I came here in honor of my brother, he couldn’t be there, he has a stem cell transplant coming up,” Brock’s little brother, Max, said. “He can’t get sick at all, it’s dangerous to be around so many people. I grew up in West Linn so these are the two communities that I know that raised me, coming together to support someone I love – that’s really special.”

West Linn police officer Catlin Blyth and his nonprofit, the LtP Foundation, organized this game to benefit the two local legends.

“The seven of us that started LtP graduated from Lake O back in 2009,” Blyth said. “We’ve seen first-hand the good these two communities can do when coming together for a cause – it’s blown me away more than I even thought. We’ve already raised over $12,000 for this cause.”

“I hope that I don’t stop inspiring them, even when I’m better,” Shorter said. “I hope to leave a legacy for people just help the people that are still going through it.”

“Just the fact that they can change somebody life so extremely by doing this - it’s a powerful thing,” said McNown.

All the money raised at the game and collected by the LtP Foundation will go directly to Ellie & Brock. Ellie also had a big announcement at the game - she says she’s now cancer free. She’s hoping to get back to her team in March.