MASSENA -- The 2025 Katie O'Shaughnessy Memorial Basketball Award was presented to Maddie LaDuke, a senior on the Massena Women’s Varsity Basketball team. Maddie was selected by coach Justin Shope for her personal drive and ability to apply the lessons learned in basketball to her life off the court.  The award was given to Maddie at the basketball banquet on April 8, where the team celebrated their season.

Maddie has been very involved in sports and extracurricular activities throughout her high school career, and she will continue playing basketball while at college. She will attend Utica University in the fall to earn a degree in physical therapy.

The award was conceived by Katie’s former teammates and established in 2001 by Mary Arcadi, then the varsity basketball coach for Massena.  The honor acknowledges a senior player that possesses Kate’s determination and positive attitude both on the court and off.

Katie O'Shaughnessy grew up in Massena and among many other activities, played basketball throughout her high school career.  In December 2000, at the age of 22, she lost a one-year battle with melanoma.  She graduated from Queen’s University just six months earlier, having never lost her fierce determination, even while facing the scariest side of cancer.

Kate’s Team was formed in 2000 as an online community to keep friends and family updated on the progress of Kate’s treatment.  Since then, Kate’s Team has been the largest team – in both fundraising and participation – at the annual Terry Fox Run in New York City.  With over 150 members, Kate’s Team® has raised over $350,000 for research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where Katie received treatment and fought so valiantly.

Research funded through Kate’s Team has produced strong results with several patients now in remission from cancer, and has been featured in several national news outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

For more information, please visit www.katesteam.org.