Hornets fall to Judson in title game
Mar. 7—SAN ANTONIO — After defeating Converse Judson in the state finals last year, Huntsville's Unified team fell short on Monday night for a second straight title.
Judson would claim two wins on Monday night as they faced off against Hutto in the semifinals before facing the Hornets for the state title.
The Rockets claimed a 33-24 win over Huntsville to claim the title.
"We just couldn't get into a rhythm," Unified head coach and director of WCSO Jason Elliott said. "I don't want to make excuses. We got off the bus and went through our warm-ups and things were kind of slow. It just led to too many turnovers and we struggled from there."
Huntsville was unable to ever get into a groove after a four-hour bus ride earlier that day. The Hornets fell behind early in the game and could never recover.
The Hornets would see a slow start that allowed Judson to open up an 8-0 run and they looked like they wouldn't waver.
But then Huntsville found one of its grooves and tied the game at 13 but things never went back in their favor, turnovers proved to be the biggest downfall.
"There were times that we would get into a little rhythm but we would turn the ball over again or they would hit a big shot," Elliott said. "[Judson] is a very good team. They were physical and they shot the ball well. You can't make too many mistakes against a team like that."
While things didn't go in favor of the Hornets there was more to it than winning another state title. This program is about the inclusion of everybody whether they have disabilities or not, and teaching the game of basketball.
This team has had the chance to show everybody the basic fundamentals of basketball that includes dribbling, shooting and passing the ball to get everybody involved in the game.
"I was talking with our coaches and the fundamentals of basketball really aren't taught anymore," Elliott said. "That is something we did with our kids and we made great strides. Those are our successes, what the kids have done because they are out there playing. We are very proud of them, we are proud of our team and the way they worked together. Proud of our school and our community and the support that we have. We had a ton of support there, it was awesome."
Huntsville also gets to use this program to build bonds. The Unified program is built of athletes and partners that combine on the court.
It also helps each other grow on the court, as well as, off.
The partners in the process become coaches on the court and learn how to be more than a teammate.
It even counts more now that this program is dealing with its first loss in the two years it has been a program and having people that can be secondary coaches is big.
"You want kids that are going to work well together," Elliott said. "In our program, that was our first loss. We talked about those things as a team because you have to know how to win, and handle winning and at the same time you have to know how to lose and understand it. It's part of the game and you can't let it get to you. You take that loss and you learn from it. I watched our partners tonight and they were talking to our athletes about how to handle those things. I was very proud to see those kids do that because it is tough on them also. They stepped up in that role where they are a coach on the court and they work with our athletes. It helps them grow as an individual and learn that all of us are here to serve each other in any way we can."
Now, as the basketball season ends, Huntsville has other programs that will start off. For the unified athletes, they will start gearing up for the special olympics where they will compete in the track side of things.
Huntsville will open its competition on March 25th in the Woodlands.
