The city of Enumclaw’s Special Olympics basketball skills team is riding high after taking third place in the state tournament and earning a gold medal.

The Storm’s final match for second place on March 1 was a nail-biter, with the opposing Thunder team from Pierce County beating out Enumclaw by 87 – 90 by one basket.

Skills team games are different from regular basketball games in that the players, for various reasons, don’t run down the court. Instead, the teams focus on their passing, catching and shooting skills on their own side of the court around the basket; each successful pass and catch is a point, and baskets are two. A perfect pass, catch, and basket combination is also worth a point.

The Enumclaw team — consisting of Kyle Kennedy, Liam Jun, Bradley Gorgen, Cameron Mickelson, Cynthia Andrews, and Cameron Letavec — lagged behind the Thunder in the first half.

But the Storm came back raging in the second half and pulled off a perfect round, successfully passing the ball to teammates and sinking every basket.

“That never happens,” said Enumclaw Special Olympics Coordinator Bonney Kennedy.

Additionally, the other two adult teams – the (Enumclaw) Thunder and Lightning – earned bronze medals in regionals, and individual skills player Mikayla Nicodemus placed sixth.

Individual skills player Mikayla Nicodemus. Photo courtesy Sherri Humble Photography

ENUMCLAW SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Kennedy started the Enumclaw Special Olympics team a decade ago in order to give her son Kyle a place to learn sports and form a community.

The program was a hit and has been “growing like crazy,” she said.

“More than anything, a lot of our kids and our families are home and don’t have the opportunity to get together… to get to know each other,” Kennedy continued. “… So not only was it really good for our kids… but parents started making friends for the first time too.”

The program joined up with the city of Enumclaw’s Parks and Rec Department in 2013 in order to give athletes a better opportunity to know that Special Olympics Sports are offered in the community, Kennedy said.

When it comes to basketball, there are currently two adult basketball teams (ages 21 and over) and a junior league for kids 8 to 15 in addition to the skills team. It’s typical for athletes to start in the junior program and then join the Enumclaw School District’s Unified sports teams before returning to the Special Olympics league.

The junior league is especially unique, as Kennedy said that its one of only two Special Olympics junior basketball teams in the state — with the other being in Tacoma.

“We know if we can have a junior team here in Enumclaw, that there are… a lot more places that should have them,” Kennedy said.

The local program also has bowling in the fall, flag football in the winter (with enough participation), soccer and baseball in the spring, and golf and tennis in the fall.

To learn more about Enumclaw’s Special Olympics program, head to enumclawspecialolympics.com.

Enumclaw Special Olympics adult teams: Liz Bedell, Kyle Bunker, Zach Gifford, Logan Gretter, Maeson Harper, Kyle Jorgenson, John King, Kipp Kocher, Andrew Kirschbaum, Jessica Metzger, Wayne Meyer, Christie Meyers, Marcy Osburn, Ariana Turchiano, Jon Smart, Wyatt Martin, Loren Kodimer, Blair Maben, Kimber Menzel, Laura Gorgen. Photo courtesy Sherri Humble Photography

Enumclaw Special Olympics junior team: Yesi Izabell, Liam Williams, Jayden Shuler, Jaxon Hall, Jillian Bateman, Olivia Bateman, Landon Carter, Madi Isom, Emrey Larmore, Eli Harrington. Photo courtesy Sherri Humble Photography