St. Cloud Unified Basketball program wins third state title

  • The St. Cloud Unified Basketball team won the FHSAA state championship in their class last week with a 52-25 win over Fort Myers. It’s the Bulldogs third Unified championship after winning in 2016 and 2022. PHOTOS/STEFFANIE ANSBAUGH
    The St. Cloud Unified Basketball team won the FHSAA state championship in their class last week with a 52-25 win over Fort Myers. It’s the Bulldogs third Unified championship after winning in 2016 and 2022. PHOTOS/STEFFANIE ANSBAUGH
  • The Unified Team was recognized at Friday’s St. Cloud baseball game. PHOTOS/STEFFANIE ANSBAUGH
    The Unified Team was recognized at Friday’s St. Cloud baseball game. PHOTOS/STEFFANIE ANSBAUGH

Congratulations to the St. Cloud High School Unified Basketball team, who won its third FHSAA state Special Olympics Unified Basketball Division 2 championship last week.

The Bulldogs defeated Fort Myers High School, 52-25, at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center last Wednesday to bring home the state title after winning it in 2016 and 2022. The team won four regular-season games, then two regional games at the end of January to earn a spot in the state championship game.

The Bulldogs are one of the state’s most competitive such programs. St. Cloud finished in fourth place in 2021, third place in 2023, and was the state runner-up in 2019. It’s not a bad run for a program that started in the 2015-16 school year.

Unified basketball is an inclusive program to bring students with mental or physical challenges — those who would qualify for the Special Olympics, called “athletes” in the program – together with who are not thusly challenged, those called “partners”. During play, three athletes and two partners must be in the game. Rosters are made up of six athletes and six partners, and all players must be in the game for at least two minutes per half.

This year’s roster includes athletes Aeryen Ashburn-Scott, America Campos-Feliz, Angel Hernandez, Osmin Marquina Jr., Grady McCoy and Jayden Woods, partners Brody Ansbaugh, Blake Butler, Dante Cayaban, Cole Davis, Connor Howes and Enrique Soto-Pepin, and coaches John and Theresa Stump, Brandon Higdon, Jonathan Whigham and special assistants Olivia Morris, Nickolas Diaz and Braxton Ansbaugh (a former partner in the program).

“The whole premise is that the athletes shine, and the partners are in a support role,” John Stump said. “Every year when the season is about to start I wonder if we’ll have the right players, who ‘get it.’” The difference this year, Stump said, was having partners with height— which was a coup this year as all the partners this year come from other sports.

“Then they get the ball to the athletes, who take care of business,” he said.

Stump said he got involved in 2015 when SCHS Principal Nate Fancher approached him, back when he taught an adaptive PE class at the school, about the new program forming, now called Special Olympics Unified Basketball. Thanks to a supportive SCHS Exceptional Education staff, his classes and the school’s Best Buddies program, John enlisted the help of his wife Theresa and found the players. Armed with a team, they discovered other county schools also fielded teams, so a schedule came together.

It’s been fun and successful ever since.