Monument Mountain Debuts Unified Basketball Squad
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – The Monument Mountain Unified basketball team stormed back from an early 10-point deficit but could not find a way past Mount Greylock as the Spartans made their debut on Tuesday afternoon.
Danny Lawson scored 11 points, and J.T. Szymanski added eight to lead the Mounties to a 47-46 win.
But even after a potential buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out, it was all smiles in the Spartan camp – just as it has been since the team started practicing earlier this month.
“So far, integrating everyone on the team has been pretty seamless,” Monument Mountain coach Alyssa Sorrentino said. “All of the partners we had come out jumped right into it and didn't hesitate in supporting our athletes. Some of the players knew each other previously, but for most it was new faces. Now when they see each other walking down the hall or in the [cafeteria], everyone’s excited to see each other.”
Unified basketball is an initiative of Special Olympics that allows students with disabilities to wear their school colors and compete alongside students without disabilities, commonly referred to as partners.
Monument Mountain heads into the fall season with four athletes and six partners, Sorrentino said.
Mount Greylock and Wahconah were the first high schools in the county to start Unified programs in Berkshire County, Pittsfield joined the party in 2021.
Sorrentino said now is the right time for Monument Mountain to join their ranks.
“I think a combination of things - one obviously being the success of the other Unified teams in the county,” she said. “Wahconah and Greylock have really paved the way and it's been cool watching those programs grow. We're a district that aims to create meaningful inclusion opportunities for our students and this seemed like a natural fit for that.”
Sorrentino is a natural fit to lead the squad. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in the Berkshire Hills District’s special education department and an assistant basketball coach at Lenox. Her assistant coaches, Ellie Rizzo and Heidi Cooper, also have worked in the special education department and have experience coaching youth basketball.
“All of us coaches have played high school athletics and know the positive impact that being on a team can have, and we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to experience that,” Sorrentino said. “Seeing our athletes' faces light up in the gym and create new friendships has solidified that.”
The Spartans were a little short-handed on Tuesday with only two athletes, but that meant plenty of scoring opportunities for James Reilly and Charlie Bloom, who made the most of the opportunity.
Reilly finished with 14 points, and Bloom scored 22.
Reilly had the honor of scoring the program’s first bucket in the first quarter after the Spartans were down, 10-0.
But they trimmed that deficit to 16-10 by the end of the first quarter and 24-22 at half-time.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair that had the crowd on the edge of its seats until the closing seconds.
With three minutes left to play in the third quarter, Riley scored to get the Spartans within a point at 34-33. Moments later, Bloom scored to give the hosts their first lead of the game at 40-39.
Monument Mountain again led with just less than three minutes left in the fourth when Riley scored to make it 46-45.
But Devika Sharma came back at the other end with a bucket for the Mounties to put them on top for good.
The final minutes were a defensive struggle, but Mount Greylock was able to hold on to get the “W.”
Sharma, Lincoln Simpson and Josue Rubio each scored six for Mount Greylock, which got four apiece from Emery Rotter and Cole Narey and a fourth-quarter bucket from Sam Bandy.
The Mounties head back on the road next Wednesday when they head to Northampton.
Monument Mountain continues its Unified basketball season on Tuesday at home against Holyoke, the second of six games on its inaugural schedule.
Could that schedule lead to the county’s fourth Unified track and field team this spring?
“I hope so,” Sorrentino said. “I think we'll get our feet wet with Unified basketball, and, if all goes well, hopefully the district would support track and field, too.”