It is rare for Naperville North and Naperville Central to be on the same side.  Against The District 204 Eagles, students and fans from both high schools united around one team: Team 203 Special Olympics basketball.

Tuesday night, Team 203 fell to the Eagles of 204 at Naperville North. Despite the loss, Team 203 players were excited that they had the chance to play on the big stage.

“I did great because of all the fans were here and my family was here,” said Naperville North senior Joey Morton.

Preceding the game, Team 203 honored Naperville North seniors Joey Morton and Anne Hamilton with a raucous round of applause from the home crowd. This will not be the last hurrah for Morton, who plans on continuing his involvement with Team 203 and Special Olympic activities.

“Basketball is my life,” said Morton.

Naperville Central junior Advaith Kumar echoed Morton’s message of the importance of Special Olympics in the lives of these students.

“What [Special Olympics] means to me is being able to represent special-needs kids and adults, and raising awareness,” said Kumar. “This is the happiest time of their lives and they make other people happy too.”

Team 203 basketball coach Lindsay Grier explained why Special Olympics is so meaningful for these kids.

“Special Olympics is important for these athletes because it gives them the chance to be like everyone else,” said Grier. “We have a Special Olympics basketball, bowling and track team in which all of our athletes can join.”

Special Olympics athletes have fun no matter what sport they play, and truly love providing joy to their fans.

“These kids have taught me it doesn’t matter if you win or lose as long as you have fun doing what you’re doing,” said Grier, “I enjoy every day that I get to see these kids.”

Photoslider by Jacob de Waard

Gallery • 6 Photos

Photo by Jacob de Waard

Louis Pisani shoots a three pointer