On Monday, Feb. 23, the women’s varsity basketball team and cheerleaders alike stood excitedly in a tunnel formation to welcome the Unified basketball team in their last game of the 2025-2026 season and senior night against Grant. With two graduating seniors, Sharon Coltoff and Griffin Lao, this game was exceptional.
According to Special Olympics Oregon, “Unified Sports is an inclusive sports program that unites Special Olympics athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) as teammates for training and competition.” The Unified basketball team at IBW includes students with many different intellectual disabilities, and the team provides a variety of accommodations to ensure everyone can play. For example, some students may use a shorter hoop to score points instead of the standard 10-foot hoop; some may need a partner to accompany them on the court, and walk near them during the game; others don’t need any accommodations.
The two seniors, Coltoff and Lao, received individual posters with their name, number and pictures of them each playing basketball. Both seniors have been playing Unified basketball since their freshman year and have made a big impact on the team. Their families and coaches joined them for a photo.
At 4:00 PM, Josephine Rustvold, a senior at IBW, sang the national anthem. Shortly after she finished, the senior night celebration began.
The game began with a tip-off, where one player from each team, IBW and Grant, stood in the middle of the court and jumped into the air for possession of the basketball.
After the basketball was in play, the student-athletes immediately started scoring points and with every one, the crowd erupted into cheers and excitement.
After eight minutes, the game was tied, 12-12, and took a quick pause to rest and drink water.
By halftime, Grant led with a score of 23-26. The varsity cheerleaders went into the middle of the court and hyped the crowd up with chants like “Who are we? Ida B.” They also cheered with the one Unified cheerleader, Ava Brewer, who is a sophomore at IBW. After a five-minute halftime, gameplay began again and the players eagerly ran back onto the court.
After an exciting hour of gameplay, the game ended in a score of 47-60, with Grant taking home the win. Even with a loss for IBW, the players, coaches, families and the greater IBW community kept the energy high the entire game. After the game, the Unified basketball team at IBW got to enjoy a pizza party to celebrate their great season.
