AAASP Preview & Team Information

AMERICAN ASSOC. OF ADAPTED SPORTS PROGRAMS HOUSTON COUNTY LOOKS TO RECLAIM ITS CHAMPIONSHIP GRIP

WWW.ADAPTEDSPORTS.ORG

When the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP) Wheelchair basketball state championship takes center stage at 3 pm Saturday, Houston County will look to regain its dominance and take home the title. The Sharks carried an eight-year streak into the finals last year, but the Gwinnett Heat scored a 42-25 victory to end their record-setting championship run.

Houston County has clearly been the team to beat for nearly a decade, but emergent programs have routinely challenged the standard that the Sharks continue to set. In 2020, the finals went into overtime for the first time in the sports’ history and Dylan Thompson scored his only points of the game to lift Houston County to a 23-22 victory. That game saw Houston County rally back from a 17-6 halftime deficit (wheelchair basketball plays six quarters. The Gwinnett Heat were familiar with Houston County and had met them in previous finals and came out last year victorious. Will Millikan’s 20 points fueled the Heat’s 20-point victory and gave Gwinnett its first state title since 2012. Houston County’s Seth Early finished with 18 points, but the Sharks could not pick up their ninth-straight title.

This year, the DeKalb Silver Streaks will attempt to take down Houston County and achieve the team’s first-ever state title. The AAASP Wheelchair basketball state championships have been a thrilling and incredible part of the GHSA state championships for years and this year Houston County and DeKalb will faceoff before the Slam Dunk Final at 5 p.m. and Class 7A’s double-header to close out an incredible four days of Georgia high school basketball.

AAASP WHEELCHAIR ROSTERS

DeKalb Silver Streaks

No. Name 3 Jamel Boston 6 William Jones 8 Joseph Patterson 15 Cameron Smothers 9 Najee Smothers No. Name 14 Corey Swain 22 Noah Yonis

Coaches: Everette Shoates, Delton Shoates Houston County Sharks

No. Name 25 Adonis Brown 3 Dalton Crosby 4 Anthony Cuti 4 Ger’mir Gordon 51 Ca’ron Harris

No. Name 21 Elianna Stevens 33 Dylan Thompson 24 Jaquavious West 8 Langley Yoh Coaches: Christy Jones, Melissa Ring-Hartman

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF INTERSCHOLASTIC ADAPTED ATHLETICS

Thank you to all of our school members, coaches, athletes and parents for the inspiration to continue our work to get Georgia students with physical disabilities off the sidelines and into the game! Learn more about how your school district or region can participate; participation is open to all GA students with a physical disability through the AAASP/GHSA alliance in partnership with GADOE. A special thanks to our founders and leadership, including our Board of Directors, whose steadfast commitment to AAASP makes opportunities available in athletics for students with physical disabilities possible year after year. For more information, contact AAASP or GHSA: adaptedsports.org or ghsa.net.

Visit adaptedsports.org | email sports@adaptedsports.org