The Boothbay Seahawks Unified Basketball team traveled to Morse High School in Bath Friday evening for the first regular season game of 2023. The Morse Shipbuilders won 62-45.

The Shipbuilders jumped out a large lead in the first half and the Seahawks were unable to catch up, though the Seahawks’ second half performance was strong.

Point guard Grace Giles had the hot hand of the evening with seven baskets and two assists to Brian Abbee who posted up in the paint to score several layups. Abbee was the team’s leading scorer, totaling 17 points including the only 3-pointer of the night, in a spectacular second half nothing-but-net moment that caused fans from both teams to stand and cheer.

Eddie Carpenter, Caleb Macia, Eric Maki and Matthias Fanslau also scored goals. Fanslau led the team in rebounds, with one acrobatic save – keeping the ball from going out of bounds. All team members rotated in and out of the game under the direction of Coach Dennis Dacus, and every player handled the ball during the game.

Noah Kent was the leading scorer for the Shipbuilders with 18 points.

Both teams played a clean game, with only one foul of the evening on the Seahawks for reaching. 

The event includes two 20-minute halves of game play with music and dancing at halftime. The Seahawks team has 12 players and several helpers. The Seahawks have five games scheduled for the season, with the possibility of other games being added.

“Unified Basketball, and more specifically, BRHS Unified Basketball is an event with huge smiles, thunderous claps, a million high fives, and sportsmanship on a whole other level. I recommend witnessing an event for everyone! It will make for a happy heart,” writes Dacus in segue to their next game, on Valentine's Day. The first home game of the season is also against Morse on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 3:30 in the Boothbay Region High School gymnasium. The Seahawks, now 0-1, will look to improve their record.

Other scheduled games include:

Thursday, Feb. 16 @ Oak Hill High School, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday Feb. 28 @ Hall-Dale High School, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday March 7 @ home against Lincoln Academy, 3:30 p.m.

“Unified basketball is a community-level extension of Special Olympics Maine Unified Championship Club which promotes social inclusion, leadership, and friendship for both student-athletes with and without disabilities,” said Tanya Thibault, BRHS special education teacher and faculty organizer for the team. “This is a wonderful sports model for our students. They learn sportsmanship, collaboration, and respect for their teammate’s abilities.”