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Whiz Kids: Special Olympics Basketball Team Takes State Championship

The Hinsdale South Hornets Special Olympics Basketball Team got the sweet taste of victory at this year's state championships.

The nine players who make up the Hornets Special Olympics Basketball Black Team have much to be proud of when they look back on their season. 

In addition to a schedule packed with academics, employment and other extracurricular activities, they found time for two practices and one or two weekly games from October through March.

Their hard work and determination paid off when the team placed first in state for its division at the Special Olympics Illinois Basketball Tournament on March 11-12 at the Illinois State University campus in Bloomington-Normal.

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Coaches Kathy Craig, Randy Patterson and Adam Contreras praised the efforts of the nine players—eight boys and one girl—who had little chance for rest during the two-game series.

“The kids on our team really, really love basketball, and we never saw their enthusiasm fade, even when the season wore them down a little,” Craig proudly said. 

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The first game against the Rushville-Industry Rockets proved to be of little challenge for the Hornets, who won 60-18.

The next day’s championship match up against the Glenbard North Panthers proved to be one of the toughest games of the entire season. With evenly matched skills, the Hornets had to dig deep to keep a lead over the Panthers, who came close a few times throughout the game.

Patterson said the team never took anything for granted, even when they were up by 10 points at the half.

“Last year, most of these kids were on the team that lost the championship by five points. They weren’t going to let that happen again,” remarked Patterson.

Co-captains Darrius “The Vulture” Fulcher and Ryan “Pots and Pans” Thomas, both of whom Craig describes as “extremely skilled players,” helped set up plays for the team that employed zone defense rather than man-to-man.

“When the score got close, I thought we might lose,” explained Fulcher, who has been on the team for three years. “But when we won, I was so excited—there was a lot of cheering and chest bumping.”

Fulcher also won the 3-Point Shoot Out contest, and teammate Reynaldo Neris won the High School Free Throw Contest.

Thomas, who is manager for the boys basketball team said, “It was a hard fought win. It felt like an NCAA game—it was brutal.”

As Fulcher and Thomas, as well as teammates Tommy “Tommy Hilfiger” Cody and Devon “Windex” Williams, reflected on their victory, their camaraderie was measurable.

Cody said this was his first year on the team, as well as his first trip to states for a sport. He thought the State Champs title was well earned, saying his teammates really pushed themselves.

Williams commented on the solidarity of the team saying, “My teammates are awesome—we really stay connected.”

The others nodded affirmatively, and Thomas added, “I love spending time with these guys.”     

      Hinsdale South Special Olympics Black Team State Champs

     Thomas Cody, Ryan Donovan,  Darrius Fulcher, Abraham Gamboa, Nancy Martinez, Trey Morris, Reynaldo Neris, Ryan Thomas, Devon Williams

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