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Game for Skylar honours former South Surrey basketball star

Semiahmoo Secondary alumn Skylar Sheehan passed away April 18 due to heart complications.
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Former Semiahmoo Totems basketball star

Members of the Semiahmoo Peninsula basketball community will hit the court Friday to honour one of their own.

On Friday, from 6-8 p.m., Semiahmoo Secondary will host the first Game for Skylar, a basketball game to honour the memory of former player Skylar Sheehan, who passed away on April 18 – his 20th birthday – due to heart complications.

Sheehan had been a star on the court for the Semiahmoo Totems and was among the reason's for the school's basketball resurgence in recent years under head coach Ed Lefurgy.

Speaking to the Peace Arch News back in 2014 – after Sheehan had accepted a full athletic scholarship to the University of Calgary – Lefurgy said ,"As soon as Skylar came in, he changed our program with his talent and his commitment."

In his Grade 12 season with the Totems, Sheehan – whose father, Dave, also played Canadian university basketball, at the University of Victoria – helped lead the Totems to one of the program's longest winning streaks in years, culminating in a second-place finish at Surrey Championships.

Friday's game will also serve as a fundraiser for the local chapter of KidSport, Lefurgy said, and donations will be accepted at the game.

"We just felt like the best way to honour Skyler and remember him was to just lace 'em up and go play," he said.