Students from across the area gathered at Pinckneyville High School on Wednesday morning to watch their disabled peers play a basketball game.
PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. (WSIL)-- Students from across the area gathered at Pinckneyville High School on Wednesday morning to watch their disabled peers play a basketball game.
The game included students from Pinckneyville, Du Quoin, and Murphysboro.
It was a basketball game to remember for the Pinckneyville Panthers and Murphysboro Red Devils.
Pinckneyville High School hosted a home game for their Panther Paws Program. The program highlights developmentally disabled students from their functional classroom in a fun basketball game against Murphysboro.
Pinckneyville’s superintendent says this is the second year the school has hosted the games. He says each team gets to have a home game.
Emma Price played with the Pinckneyville Panthers. She loved the crowd's energy.
“Good, the crowd was so loud and strong,â€� Price said.Â
The gym was filled with kids from the whole school district, and Price said besides winning their home game, she was happy to see familiar faces.
“Good. I saw Mom,� Price said.
Price says even though it was a close game it was about playing as a team. The Panthers Paws coach Ty Laur is in his junior year at the high school. He says he loves coaching them and sharing his passion for basketball.Â
“They're so happy all the time and it's not about like winning the basketball game. It's about the memories that these guys are gonna have forever,� Laur says. “It doesn't matter the score, if a shot goes in or not, if they're happy, then we're all happy.�
With the clock running down it was a very close scoring game, and Murphysboro player Lucas Willmore said one of his favorite plays included a step back when he shot the ball.
“I did a step back, and threw it, I tried to dunk it and failed,� Willmore said.
The Red Devils Assistant coach Tyquan Logan says he is proud of his team.
“Well it was actually fun, it was pretty cool,� Logan says. “Well in the last game, we won, but this game we lost. But it will be alright though, we only lost by 2 points. But we have one more game with them actually at our home. I can’t wait.�
Willmore says with teamwork anything is possible, and it's important to keep trying.Â
“Do what you can, no matter what people say, do what you can,� Willmore said.
And officials say events like this are about making positive memories for their students.
Logan and his teams say they hope to play Pinckneyville at home again this year.
Pinckneyville's superintendent hopes to grow the program to include more schools.
