Special Olympians compete in basketball tourney
Brenda LeConte, left, receives a pass from her sister, Ronda LeConte at the tournament. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
Thomas Wilcox, Brenda and Ronda LeConte, Adam Jackimovicz and Amber Hyson during one of the games at the tournament. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
Boothbay athletes on the winners’ podium. From left are Grace Giles, Matthew Hyson, Logan Posey, DeShawn Averill, Kasey Graves and Bobby Edwards. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
Brenda LeConte, left, receives a pass from her sister, Ronda LeConte at the tournament. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
Thomas Wilcox, Brenda and Ronda LeConte, Adam Jackimovicz and Amber Hyson during one of the games at the tournament. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
Boothbay athletes on the winners’ podium. From left are Grace Giles, Matthew Hyson, Logan Posey, DeShawn Averill, Kasey Graves and Bobby Edwards. Courtesy of Toby LeConte
The Southern Maine Special Olympics Basketball Tourney took place on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, March 15.
The Boothbay Special Olympians, along with partners Lisa and Lynn Pawlowski and Sinead Miller, began the day at the skills competition. Athletes Kasey Graves, Matthew Hyson and Logan Posey typically play on the Unified Team, with the Boothbay team's other older athletes. The team was unable to make the Central Maine Tourney on March 12, where they would have played other, like abilities unified teams.
These three athletes Saturday entered the skills contest and came away winners, with Logan earning a silver, Matthew a fourth place and Kasey a bronze. Deshawn "the beast" Averill scored the highest in division 1 of the 11 and under category. Chloe Desjardins won the silver, Blake Smith the bronze, Vincent Giles a fourth, Bobby "O" Edwards a fifth and Grace Giles a sixth.
In division 2, Lucian Moreau won the gold and John, “the piper's son,” won the silver. It was a fantastic competition and the athletes faced some tough competition.
The masters division 3 did outstanding. The team was missing two of its starters, Donny Dunning and Joey Ranco, as they had to work and didn’t have enough time to plan the day off. The team played five games.
Game 1: Infinity Chasers defeated Boothbay Region 18-4. Adam Jackimovicz scored 4 points. The team had a hard time with getting their rhythm with two starters missing.
Game 2: Boothbay Region defeated Eagles Outreach 38-10. Scoring totals: Ronda LeConte 16, Thomas Wilcox 8, Adam Jackimovicz 8, Amber Hyson 2, Brenda LeConte 2, Matthew Farnham 2
Game 3: Boothbay Region defeated MVRA All Stars 11-3. Scoring totals: Brenda LeConte 7, Ronda LeConte 4
Game 4: In triple overtime, Boothbay Region defeated Infinity Chasers 20-18. Scoring totals: Adam Jackimovicz 8, Brenda LeConte 6, Ronda LeConte 4, Danny Miller 2.
Game 5: Family Matters defeated Boothbay Region 11-6. Ronda LeConte scored all of Boothbay's points.
Boothbay came away with the bronze. Thomas Wilcox was the playmaker, Adam Jackimovicz, Amber Hyson and Valerie Giles played under the boards, Ronda and Brenda LeConte played out front and Danny Miller and Matt Farnham were the versatile players playing both under the boards and center. They were very pleased and excited.
Congratulations to all athletes for excellent skills, teamwork and dedication to keep improving.
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