The idea of Unified Sports is the practice of combining athletes of the Special Olympics (those with intellectual disabilities), with partners (those without intellectual disabilities), as teammates for competitions and training.
On February 27, 2024, the Judson Boys Unified Basketball became UIL Back-2-Back State Champions against the Hutto Hippos.
As the game started, the Hippos gained possession of the tip-off, not lasting long before the Rockets gained possession, scoring within the first five minutes of the game. While there were constant back-and-forth two-pointers, the Rocket defense shook a little, causing the Hippos to gain a free throw. With an unsuccessful free throw from the Hippos, the Rockets gained possession of the ball. With aggression from both sides of the court, the quarter ends with the Rockets down 9-11.
As the second quarter began, there were a lot of unsuccessful shots made from both teams, along with many out-of-bounds stepping. The Rockets and the Hippos then began to go shot-for-shot. This quarter was a quarter of free throws and ties as the Rockets gained two successful free throws, the Hippos gained one, successfully, along with both teams tying the game three times. While this was an eventful quarter, the Rocket’s offense lacked proper ball control but managed to go into halftime tied, once again, 17-17.
Coming back from the halftime locker room, the Rockets wanted to make their mark. The Rockets managed to score within the first ten seconds of the quarter, making the score 19-17. The Rockets and Hippos began to go back and forth in shooting, until the Rockets decided to make their first risky play of the game, and successfully shoot a three-pointer, with 3:56 on the clock, making the game 22-21. Not long after the Hippos scored again, the Rockets made another three-pointer, making that game 25-23. With this quarter, the Rockets made a lot more risky, but successful plays, ending the quarter down by three, 25-28.
Those three points didn’t wound the Rocket’s determination though. As the fourth quarter began, the Rockets scored a two-pointer within the first thirty seconds of the game, tallying the score up to 27-28. While the Hippos had a free throw, they were only halfway successful, allowing the Rockets to gain possession of the ball and score another two-pointer. With the fouling out of a player from the Hippos, the Rockets made a successful free throw, making the score 33-37, with the Rockets still down. Not long after, the Hippos called back-to-back timeouts, in an attempt to slow the Rockets down, but this effort was unsuccessful. With both the defense and the offense working together, they managed to tie the game, 38-38, leading the championship into overtime.
With the gym rumbling like no other, overtime was a good way for the Rockets to finish what they had started. With four minutes put on the clock, the tip-off fell in favor of the Hippos, in which they scored. This didn’t stop the Rockets though. They were quick to match the energy of the Hippos, tying the game once again, 40-40. With a half-successful free throw, the Rockets came back from a time-out and scored multiple times, blocking the Hippo’s attempts to score. The Rocket player #24, Eugene Cabello, was one of the star three-pointers of the whole game, in which he managed to launch the three-pointer that won the game for the Rockets, 49-42.
Senior, Riyan Fields, comments on his feelings after seeing the clock strike zero, and seeing that they had won.
“Oh it felt amazing! We have been winning since last year, and all this year, and it feels great to be a State champion,” he said.
Head Coach Jeremy Walden also had some words on why he thinks this is important to the school.
“I think that it’s [Unified Sports Teams] good for the school. We had band, cheer, and StuCo involved. I think that it is a unification, literally, of the school/ the Judson community. With the superintendent and athletic directors there, it is good for the spirit of Judson High School,” Walden stated.
Please help The Fuel in congratulating our Boys Unified Basketball Team for their huge win. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to keeping Rocket Pride alive!
To watch the game, you can go here.