Oak Lawn Eagles Ready To Score At Special Olympics Basketball Finals

OAK LAWN, IL — Two squads from the Oak Lawn Eagles special rec basketball team are headed to the Special Olympics Illinois state finals in Bloomington-Normal this weekend.

The Eagles put on a dazzling display of their shooting and dribbling skills at the Oak Lawn Park District’s Special Recreation All-Star Basketball Games at Oak Lawn Community High School in January.

The “D” team, comprised of high school-age players, will play at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. The players are Ibrahim Abdelhadi
Emma Cody, Ben Fritz, Andres Garcia, Ethan Gowaski, Brendan Kandich, Henry Krickl, Andrea Moreno, Gina Rielly and Khaled Shehata.

The “B” team, which includes adult players, heads to Illinois State University in Normal. The Eagles “B” team hits the court at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, March 11. If they lose their first game, they will play the losers of the semi-final at 11:45 a.m. If they win, the Eagles B’s will play for all the marbles at 1 p.m.

The Eagles B team includes Johnny Damme, Shane Figura, Anthony Forde, Becca Gehle, Jessica Haugh, Caitlyn McManus, Jimmy O’Keefe, Jenna Richards, Ezekiel Rivera, Marium Whaid and Mary Wolfe

The park district’s special rec basketball teams draw players from Bridgeview, Burbank, Evergreen Park, Chicago Ridge, Palos Heights, Crestwood and Hometown. Participants’ range in age from high school to 40. Many of the players have been shooting hoops together since 2005.