Basketball builds to a fever pitch at this time every year when U.S. college basketball playoffs get down to the nitty-gritty of determining a champion.
Now it appears a group of athletes from Prince George Special Olympics has caught the spirit of March Madness.
Having never before competed in a basketball tournament of any kind, the nine-player Prince George team was in North Vancouver last weekend for the Special Olympics March Madness tournament and went on to finish third in the B division with a 4-1 record.
Team members David Dunn, Clayton Juliette, Gwang Yeon Lee, Braedon Powley, Tegan Raines, Leif Skuggedal, Marinka VanHage, Amber Walton and Chris Zorn defeated Richmond 16-12 on Sunday in the bronze medal game.
Prince George Special Olympics has had a basketball team for about seven years, but until they stepped out onto the court in North Vancouver, the team had played only fun games against Quesnel. The team has been practicing Tuesday and Sunday nights.
"We weren't sure how competitive they would be and we thought the Lower Mainland would have strong team because they have a larger athlete base," said Wilma VanHage, Prince George Special Olympics public relations co-ordinator.
"They were placed in Level C to begin with until they see how everybody stacks up and they won their first game 16-0 so they moved them up to Level B. They were a lot more competitive than they thought they'd be. They only lost one game."
Prince George won its first B Division game 34-0 over Vancouver, lost their next one 23-14 to Richmond, and ended the round-robin with a 20-12 win over Burnaby, which put them into the bronze medal game.
Most of the basketball team players will now switch to soccer. The indoor season starts with practices at the John McInnis Centre and games will be played at the Prince George Youth Soccer Association's indoor fields at 965 Winnipeg St. Once Rotary Soccer Fields open for the season in May, they'll switch to outdoor soccer.
