NORTON

A record number of Norton families struggling with tragedy - 11 - will benefit from teachers and others playing basketball.

The Sixth Annual Kathy Bailey Memorial - It Takes A Community Basketball game hopes to raise $10,000 to help the families, lead organizer Michelle Petersen says.

A sell-out crowd of 600 is expected for the game at 7 p.m. Friday at Norton High School. A Norton public safety team will face a team of Norton educators and members of the Brockton Rox baseball team.

Tickets are $5 each and are available at all of the Norton schools and the Norton YMCA. The proceeds from past games have helped as many as seven Norton families each year who have lost a parent or were coping with a terminally ill relative, Petersen said.

The demand has doubled this year.

The 11 include five families with a parent with a terminal illness, four families who have lost a parent and two children with cancer, Petersen said.

"It seems like Norton has been hit. There's just been so many behind-the-scenes tragic situations going on," she said.

Organizers of the game will anonymously send each family a check, Petersen said.

In the past, the proceeds have provided summer camps for children, purchased Christmas presents, allowed families to take time off work and provided much needed family fun for the families, she said.

Petersen anticipates some of the families will attend the basketball game.

"Most of them don't know they're going to be helped," she said.

"Norton's one of those towns where people say, 'Everyone knows your business.' Everyone helps each other," she said. "When there's a problem, everyone rallies."

Traditionally, the locals have faced a team of New England Patriots alumni. But this year, "some of those players felt they were getting a little bit older, and the basketball game would be too much for them," Petersen said.

Instead, Pats alum Jim Bowman will be a referee.

Disc jockey Steven Bishop will be the master of ceremonies.

A guest speaker will address the crowd at halftime.

There will be raffles, too.

The game is held in memory of Kathy Bailey, a young mother who lost her battle with brain cancer.

"She needed help so she could stay home with her family," said Petersen, a friend.

Bailey's parents have come to the game every year, she said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER covers Norton for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.