ELK GROVE — The first-ever championship basketball tournament was held in Elk Grove.
The high school players have been practicing hard all season to advance to Friday night's finals, and they didn't let the physical or mental challenges keep them from putting up a good game.
Hoop after hoop, the athletes showed off their special abilities on the court.
Ali Post, a 10th grader at Franklin High School, was one of the fan favorites.
“I worked hard every game,” Post said.
The Unified Basketball League pairs more than 40 special education students with traditional high school athletes on co-ed teams.
“When we take guys who don’t know how to dribble yet and we teach them and coach them, they get to a point where they can not only dribble, but drive to the hole,” Laguna Creek coach , said Ryan Nill. “They're building on it and competing to win games.”
Nill said it's important for kids with intellectual disabilities to have the opportunity to participate in Friday night games like other high school athletes.
“We have a lot of students with all kinds of ability levels who probably don't get the opportunity to compete. And this gives them that opportunity,” Nill said. .
Competition can be tough.
“Some games we won at the buzzer, some games we lost at the buzzer,” Nill said.
This is the first year the Elk Grove district has organized such a unified game, and they are looking to expand to other schools and districts in future seasons.
“We're hoping that if we keep adding to it every year, it's going to be great,” parent Torrell Avery said.
In Friday night's championship game, the Franklin Wildcats defeated the Laguna Creek Cardinals to take home this year's championship title.