Section VII Unified basketball will not host end-of-season tournament for second straight year

Vermont high school sports and New York high schools’ Section VII both share a plethora of unified basketball games throughout the spring season. Between the two, only one has an end-of-season tournament. The Vermont Principals’ Association’s end-of-season tournament is already underway, with first-round matchups set to take place Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14. Section VII will not have an end-of-season tournament for the second season in a row. Section VII Executive Director Matthew Walentuk and most high school athletic directors of the eight teams competing in the section this spring believe in a different format as a substitute for an end-of-season championship. “We have used our assembly games to highlight the end of the season,” Walentuk said. “We (myself and the athletic directors) felt that having a full gym of their peers was the ultimate testimony to the unified student-athletes that are participating.” Throughout the spring season, each school has a home and away assembly day game. The games, which typically tip off around 1:30 p.m., pull students and teachers away from their classes to pack the gyms and bring the noise, posters and energy to cheer on their unified basketball teams. “Unified basketball is there to celebrate our student-athletes and those that have some disabilities,” Walentuk said. “They put on the uniform, they go out, they play in front of the crowd. They play in front of the student body just like any other high school athlete does across the section.” Students like Ticonderoga High School sophomore Carter Mack embrace the energy during unified basketball assembly games. Watching what that atmosphere looked like as a fan at Ticonderoga’s assembly day game is what encouraged him to join the Sentinels on the unified hardwood in 2025. “I got to see the assembly game at Ticonderoga last year, and it looked like so much fun, and I wanted to do that,” Mack said. “It just looked like a great environment, and it is.” At the same time, Mack and his other teammates, like Ticonderoga senior Davis Carr, are interested in giving a postseason format for unified basketball a try. “That would be an amazing opportunity,” Mack said. “I think that would be beneficial for everyone.” “I would definitely be down for that,” Davis said. Special Olympics of New York is encouraging more sections across the state to adopt a championship format to end their seasons and is providing financial support to help put on these tournaments. The organization’s Unified Sports executive director, Nathan Johnson, says the current model features teams placed into four divisions based on skill level. Each division would have a semifinal and championship round, along with a consolation round for the third-place game. He shared that Special Olympics of New York provides not only championship medals but also consolation medals for first, second, third and fourth place. Additionally, they would award each team for where they placed in each division. “What we want to see is schools put into groups of four based upon ability,” Johnson said. “That’s the format we use now is an ability-based division tournament … so everyone gets recognized.”With the addition of Moriah High School to unified basketball this spring, there are eight teams, meaning two teams could be placed in each division based on their regular-season records. The winners of those four division championships would get a first-place medal, while the other four teams who competed would receive a second-place medal. The idea is possible, but Johnson and Special Olympics of New York are not forcing any section to take on the end-of-season tournament. He says it is all by choice. “We’ve seen situations where sections do just the season play and don’t want to do a tournament at the end,” Johnson said. “We’re not looking to force people in a direction they don’t want to be in.”Section VII started unified basketball in 2017, where six schools — Peru High School, Beekmantown High School, Saranac High School, Plattsburgh High School, Saranac Lake High School and Ausable Valley High School — started their own teams after Ticonderoga High School started its first unified team in 2016 and played schools from Section II in its inaugural season. An event in which teams matched up against other schools based on regular-season play concluded the 2017 season. Each of the competing teams was awarded a medal of participation by the end of the tournament. Plattsburgh hosted the last unified event in 2023, during which no medals or plaques were handed out. The winning teams got to hold a unified banner for their accomplishment. Some coaches are interested in trying to bring an end-of-season event back. “A few of them are looking at it and they feel like there’s some good equity across the season, and they want to advocate for that tournament plan,” Johnson said. “Those opportunities really come down to the coaches and the athletic directors talking.”That includes Peru High School’s unified basketball coaches, Amy Dermody and Chris Burdash. They believe it is all about finding a compromise on what works best for an end-of-season event for all eight Section VII unified basketball schools. “It’s really based on all the schools getting together and really figuring out together one thing to do at the end of the year,” Dermody said. “We would like a culminating event or even a sectional game, but it has to be involved with all the teams.”Walentuk says he is open to the possibility of bringing back a culminating or championship-style event, but right now, he is happy with how six of the seven assembly games have gone this season for Section VII. He also encourages people to check out unified basketball for themselves to increase overall engagement for the sport. “If anybody watching has never seen unified basketball, I just encourage you to go to SectionVII.org and look at our schedule, attend one of those games,” Walentuk said. One more assembly day game is set to tip off at Saranac High School, where the Spartans will host a packed gym against the Ausable Valley High School Patriots on Thursday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m. The last unified game of spring will feature Beekmantown High School hosting Ausable Valley High School on Wednesday, May 21, at 4:30 p.m.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. —

Vermont high school sports and New York high schools’ Section VII both share a plethora of unified basketball games throughout the spring season. Between the two, only one has an end-of-season tournament.

The Vermont Principals’ Association’s end-of-season tournament is already underway, with first-round matchups set to take place Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14. Section VII will not have an end-of-season tournament for the second season in a row.

Section VII Executive Director Matthew Walentuk and most high school athletic directors of the eight teams competing in the section this spring believe in a different format as a substitute for an end-of-season championship.

“We have used our assembly games to highlight the end of the season,” Walentuk said. “We (myself and the athletic directors) felt that having a full gym of their peers was the ultimate testimony to the unified student-athletes that are participating.”

Throughout the spring season, each school has a home and away assembly day game. The games, which typically tip off around 1:30 p.m., pull students and teachers away from their classes to pack the gyms and bring the noise, posters and energy to cheer on their unified basketball teams.

“Unified basketball is there to celebrate our student-athletes and those that have some disabilities,” Walentuk said. “They put on the uniform, they go out, they play in front of the crowd. They play in front of the student body just like any other high school athlete does across the section.”

Students like Ticonderoga High School sophomore Carter Mack embrace the energy during unified basketball assembly games. Watching what that atmosphere looked like as a fan at Ticonderoga’s assembly day game is what encouraged him to join the Sentinels on the unified hardwood in 2025.

“I got to see the assembly game at Ticonderoga last year, and it looked like so much fun, and I wanted to do that,” Mack said. “It just looked like a great environment, and it is.”

At the same time, Mack and his other teammates, like Ticonderoga senior Davis Carr, are interested in giving a postseason format for unified basketball a try.

“That would be an amazing opportunity,” Mack said. “I think that would be beneficial for everyone.”

“I would definitely be down for that,” Davis said.

Special Olympics of New York is encouraging more sections across the state to adopt a championship format to end their seasons and is providing financial support to help put on these tournaments.

The organization’s Unified Sports executive director, Nathan Johnson, says the current model features teams placed into four divisions based on skill level. Each division would have a semifinal and championship round, along with a consolation round for the third-place game. He shared that Special Olympics of New York provides not only championship medals but also consolation medals for first, second, third and fourth place. Additionally, they would award each team for where they placed in each division.

“What we want to see is schools put into groups of four based upon ability,” Johnson said. “That’s the format we use now is an ability-based division tournament … so everyone gets recognized.”

With the addition of Moriah High School to unified basketball this spring, there are eight teams, meaning two teams could be placed in each division based on their regular-season records. The winners of those four division championships would get a first-place medal, while the other four teams who competed would receive a second-place medal.

The idea is possible, but Johnson and Special Olympics of New York are not forcing any section to take on the end-of-season tournament. He says it is all by choice.

“We’ve seen situations where sections do just the season play and don’t want to do a tournament at the end,” Johnson said. “We’re not looking to force people in a direction they don’t want to be in.”

Section VII started unified basketball in 2017, where six schools — Peru High School, Beekmantown High School, Saranac High School, Plattsburgh High School, Saranac Lake High School and Ausable Valley High School — started their own teams after Ticonderoga High School started its first unified team in 2016 and played schools from Section II in its inaugural season.

An event in which teams matched up against other schools based on regular-season play concluded the 2017 season. Each of the competing teams was awarded a medal of participation by the end of the tournament.

Plattsburgh hosted the last unified event in 2023, during which no medals or plaques were handed out. The winning teams got to hold a unified banner for their accomplishment. Some coaches are interested in trying to bring an end-of-season event back.

“A few of them are looking at it and they feel like there’s some good equity across the season, and they want to advocate for that tournament plan,” Johnson said. “Those opportunities really come down to the coaches and the athletic directors talking.”

That includes Peru High School’s unified basketball coaches, Amy Dermody and Chris Burdash. They believe it is all about finding a compromise on what works best for an end-of-season event for all eight Section VII unified basketball schools.

“It’s really based on all the schools getting together and really figuring out together one thing to do at the end of the year,” Dermody said. “We would like a culminating event or even a sectional game, but it has to be involved with all the teams.”

Walentuk says he is open to the possibility of bringing back a culminating or championship-style event, but right now, he is happy with how six of the seven assembly games have gone this season for Section VII. He also encourages people to check out unified basketball for themselves to increase overall engagement for the sport.

“If anybody watching has never seen unified basketball, I just encourage you to go to SectionVII.org and look at our schedule, attend one of those games,” Walentuk said.

One more assembly day game is set to tip off at Saranac High School, where the Spartans will host a packed gym against the Ausable Valley High School Patriots on Thursday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m.

The last unified game of spring will feature Beekmantown High School hosting Ausable Valley High School on Wednesday, May 21, at 4:30 p.m.