As the final buzzer rang last Friday night, Holt’s basketball athletes suffered two defeats to opponent Fort Zumwalt South. Both the boys and girls teams fought very hard, but in the end their efforts could not overcome FZS. The girls team fell short 24-66 while the boys team lost 49-75.

However, even though our teams lost, we won in another way. January 12 marked the date of Holt High School’s annual SOMO night. SOMO night celebrates our Special Olympic athletes.

In between Holt’s basketball games, the special athletes had an opportunity to show off their talent. There was the skills, 3v3, and 5v5 teams that all had a chance to shine in front of a crowd.

Holt’s student section went wild each time a basket was scored. The red and blue teams played against each other in 5v5, with the red pulling out the ultimate win.

“It was a really awesome experience. Everyone was so excited for the special athletes. It’s cool to see the community pull together like that,” said Madeleine Spellmeyer (’20). 

During halftime of the boy’s game, a life size tic-tac-toe game was played. One of the special athletes would shoot a free throw, while a volunteer ran to place an “x” or an “o” on the board depending if the free throw was made or not.

Holt’s Student Council put on the whole event. Through a miracle minute and silent auction baskets, they raised a total of $183.  

Holt’s basketball teams may have suffered defeat, but Holt won in the way that SOMO night helped to bring Holt’s community closer together to celebrate our athletes.