As the Guyer High School girls basketball team goes into Day 2 of the three-day Denton County Classic — a varsity basketball tournament the team is co-hosting with Krum High School — the players will hit the courts today with one of their teammates in mind.

On the tournament’s opening night Thursday, the team hosted a benefit dinner in conjunction with the school’s volleyball team and Peer Assistance and Leadership organization in honor of former player Makenna Loerwald, who just three weeks ago was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare adolescent cancer generally found in bone or soft tissue.

Through this weekend, a Starbucks gift basket, Dallas Mavericks tickets, a basketball autographed by Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, University of Texas items signed by Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy and a basket of hair products donated by the Michael Lindley salon will be sold in a silent auction. Proceeds from the dinner and auction will go to Loerwald’s family, said Charla Valenzuela, Guyer head girls basketball coach.

“She’s part of our family,” Valenzuela said of the senior who played the previous three seasons for her. “It’s just part of being a family — reaching out and taking care of one another.”

Loerwald, 18, said learning of the tumor near her rib cage and then being diagnosed with cancer Nov. 19 came as a shock that has “flipped [life] upside down.” In recent weeks, she’s undergone a number of scans, tests and biopsies. She was released Wednesday from a hospital after completing her first round of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, which she’s named “Ted,” to operable size.

Referring to herself as “not much of a crier,” Loerwald said she’s been moved to tears by people’s notes, thoughts and support, including the benefit dinner and, during this tough stage of her life.

“It’s really just amazing that they’re supportive like this, and I just feel so blessed by what they’re doing, and really lucky,” Loerwald said. “I just feel so … overwhelmed by their generosity.”

Valenzuela said that a long process is ahead for Loerwald, and this weekend will not be the last show of support for the player whom she and teammates describe as “a tough cookie” who’s always optimistic and smiling.

Kitson Loerwald, Makenna’s mother, said that the show of support from friends, family and complete strangers has been humbling. The prayers and support from well-wishers and the faith she’s seen Makenna possess through her illness have made the journey easier to take, she said.

“It’s just overwhelming,” Kitson Loerwald said of the support. “We kind of don’t feel worthy of all this. We’re very grateful.”

Feeling not quite well enough to attend the first night of the tournament Thursday at Guyer, Makenna is hoping that blood work today will clear her just in time to cheer on her school at a Class 4A Division I state football semifinal Saturday in Dallas. She said that it would be “a dream come true.”

Throughout the next several weeks, Loerwald is expected to undergo chemotherapy treatments so that surgery can take place, possibly by March. According to an online journal run by Loerwald’s parents to provide updates on her progress, the surgery will be followed by other chemo and radiation treatments.

For more information about the silent auction, call Valenzuela at 940-369-1176.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.

ON THE WEB

Follow Makenna Loerwald’s progress at www.caringbridge.com/visit/makenna91