Team work makes the dream work
Burrillville Unified team works together to reach D6 final
Burrillville Unified sports program is a big win for students
BURRILLVILLE – There was only 1:06 remaining in regulation when Burrillville High senior C.J. Wagner planted a long jumper to cement what proved to be a thrilling 57-42 triumph over Scituate on Friday afternoon.
Not surprisingly, Wagner responded as anyone would. He turned his head toward the crowd on hand at the famed Broncodome, chest-bumped senior teammate Jordan DaSilva and quickly issued three stomps near the midcourt stripe.
Wagner didn’t lead his contingent in scoring, as his 10 points fell far below the 19 registered by DaSilva, but he couldn’t have cared less. With this R.I. Division 6 Unified Basketball Tournament semifinal victory, he and his mates clinched a berth in the state championship tilt against North Smithfield.
That will take place at 3 p.m., Sunday at Hendricken High’s gymnasium, with the Opening Ceremonies slated for high noon.
“Awesome,” Wagner exclaimed. “I stomped because I’m happy!”
Added sophomore Jarred Lipka, who closed with six critical points: “Sh-bang! We did it! That means a whole lot of happiness.”
For DaSilva, the verdict meant something more, especially since this would be the last interscholastic home contest he would play inside this gym.
“Doing it here means so much,” he gleamed. “We’re going to the finals! Yeah! We want to win back-to-back championships because we won the Unified Volleyball (crown in the fall). I know we can do it!”
According to Jerry Dandeneau, the R.I. Interscholastic League’s Unified Director, this particular showdown perfectly exemplified how and why such sports are contested statewide.
In this particular athletic endeavor, special athletes – some who fall in the Autism Spectrum Disorders category, others with Down’s Syndrome or other afflictions – combine with partners to compete in two running, 16-minute halves, and it takes teamwork among each and every spoke in the wheel to put the ball in the basket.
“I’ve been doing this since this program’s inception 10 years ago, and this game – these two schools – epitomized the spirit of unified,” Dandeneau stated. “The partners pass the ball to the athletes, and those kids score; there’s so much satisfaction seeing them all do so well and playing as a team.
“This is the best thing since sliced bread,” he continued. “I’ve been involved with special education since 1968, and this program has done so much to unify the (different) populations at all the schools. They gain and give each other mutual respect, and it exists among all of the players. It’s just phenomenal. This was so emotional and touching.”
Broncos’ second-year mentor Cortney Lacey neverthe- less received a bit of bad news about four hours before the opening tip. She discovered that her two usual partners were unable to attend the event, as one had to report to work and the other had to prepare for her Junior-Senior Prom.
“That was OK, though,” Lacey mentioned after the win, one that pushed her squad to 52 on the season. “I knew we had Jarred and Jordan to help out the other kids, so I kind of expected to see more grit out there.
“We had started with six partners, and (senior) Abby Bassett was one of them, but she decided to play girls lacrosse, so she couldn’t do it,” she added. “We lost a couple of others due to grades, and another left, so you could say this game fell on the wrong day.
“All of that was fine, though. I knew we’d respond.”
Paced by DaSilva, who manufactured all of his 19 in the opening half, the Broncos took a 31-20 cushion over the Spartans into the break.
“That’s when I found out (from Dandeneau) that Jordan and Jarred couldn’t score in the second half; he asked me who my partners were, and I told him we were playing without them,” Lacey explained. “He told me that, per the rules, which stated no partner may score more than 50 percent of the points, they couldn’t shoot. I just designated those two to be our partners, and they were both terrific.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” she added. “We had done a pretty good job this season of having all the kids score, not just a couple. They’ve all done very well this year, and I had complete faith in them. I’ve worked with special education kids for a very long time, and I love it.
“Since the Unified project has taken hold at all of the schools, your regular-ed kids, I’ve found, are more supportive, understanding and more aware that there are sports for these athletes, and that they care as much as they do about competing and having fun. It’s beautiful.”
Courtesy of some sharp shooting from SHS sophomore standout Jake Catanzaro, not to mention frosh Noah Gervasio, the Spartans sliced the deficit to 31-28 with 13:03 left in the final session.
Burrillville, however, mustered a 14-6 flurry over the next seven minutes to surge to a 45-34 lead; it ended on junior Michael (“Mikey”) Morey’s lengthy 16-footer.
Senior Natalie Couture (six points) added a bucket, as did sophomore Andrew Desjarlais (four points) and freshman April Rivers (two) to run away with it.
“That made me nervous at halftime; Coach called me and my friend Jarred over and said she wanted to talk to us,” DaSilva said. “We were told we couldn’t score anymore, and I thought we got in trouble, but she told us the reason was we were the big scorers.
“After that, we thought we were going to lose, but all of us came together, and we got a lot more points from C.J., April, Mikey and Natalie. We were happy.”
Offered Lipka: “I wasn’t nervous; I felt like we had the game won. We started hitting more baskets.
“I love doing this because I like my school, my classmates, and I love basketball,” he continued. “I thought I played decent, but I didn’t have my best game. I think Jordan and C.J. and Natalie and April did.”
While the kids celebrated in various forms, their parents and other family members had issues holding back tears.
“I can’t even describe what this has done for C.J. and his confidence,” mom Deana Wagner admitted afterward, wiping her eyes with her son draped on her shoulder. “He’s developed so many friendships, and is so much more outgoing.
“This was his last game here, and he’s been playing here for six years,” she added. “I can’t believe it’s come and gone so fast. He’s amazing. He played so well. I’m very proud of him regardless of what he does.”
Noted Mikayla Lipka, Jarred’s older sister and a 2012 BHS graduate: “I came to support him; well, not just him but all of the kids. This was his best game under the dome, and it makes me a little sad I won’t watch him play here anymore, but he’s moving on to bigger and better things.
“You know, no matter what happened, they had a great attitude about (not having any partners, excepting the designees). They passed the ball a lot to the other kids so they could score points, which proved to be huge.
“Like Deana said, this has boosted Jarred’s confidence to a new level. He’s made so many friends that should last a lifetime. He loves all sports, so this is a natural. Now they’re going to the state finals. I couldn’t be happier for this team.”
As noted, Lacey has been working with such studentathletes for years, but that didn’t mean she lost the meaning of the moment.
“I saw a lot of smiles when it ended,” she said. “Honestly, coaching Unified has supplied me with one of the best experiences of my life. There’s no pressure, and it’s all about seeing the kids be a part of something they care about so much – being part of a team sport, representing their school on front of an audience, playing for the town.
“They’re ecstatic about this, as they should be,” she continued. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to see these kids excel, and how happy they are about it. This is something I feel everybody should experience someday, working with these kids and seeing how much joy they derive from something so simple.”