teen scores basket

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http://www.dallasnews

com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021607dnmetmason.1e9fecc.html

if you can't get to the article via the link - go to the DSG website and on

the front page there are links to articles (In The News) - Teen Scores

Special Bucket is the title.

I think I copied the article below.

this is local! : )

ROCKWALL – It sounded like Elvis was in the building.

REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

Cain Middle School teammates congratulated Mason Sevier after he hit his

first basket in a game against on Thursday. When word spread by

e-mail that Mason was to play, hundreds came to the game to cheer him on.

Mason Sevier sank the basketball neatly into the net Thursday, making the

first basket of the game for the Cain Middle School Mustangs.

Watching from the front row, his father's face flushed, and his eyes watered

" Everybody in there stood up and clapped and called his name, " Cliff Sevier

said.

It was a moment he and his wife, , didn't think they'd see.

" He's got Down syndrome, " explained Mr. Sevier, a Rockwall City Council

member.

When Mason was born, doctors suggested putting him in an institution.

Instead, his parents decided to raise him at home and send him to Rockwall

schools, where he has been mainstreamed since kindergarten. His team's

opponents were students he had known all through elementary school. Last

year, he headed to Cain while his classmates moved on to Middle

School.

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Mason Sevier takes the court " He knows more students than I do, " said Mason

s special education teacher, Gasewicz.

At Mr. Gasewicz's suggestion, Mason joined the school's " A " basketball team

this season, suiting up for each home game but watching from the bench. He

eagerly brings water to his thirsty peers and cheers them on.

" On the bench, he's always asking, 'When do I get to go in?' " said Mr.

Gasewicz, who sits with Mason at every home game.

Coaches agreed before Thursday's game to let the 14-year-old eighth-grader

make a layup to start the game.

The points didn't go on the scoreboard, but it didn't matter.

" It's all about being a part of " something, said Mrs. Sevier. " That's what

he wants the most.

" Before this all started, he saw kids out on the football field, and he said

'Mom, I want to play,' " Mrs. Sevier remembered.

" I started crying, because I had to tell him, 'No.' "

She sent an e-mail to a few friends Thursday morning to let them know that

Mason was going to play in the game. Those friends sent it to their friends,

and by the time the game began, hundreds were shouting Mason's name.

" It was amazing to see how things snowballed, " Mrs. Sevier said.

Members of the seventh-grade cheer team made a last-minute change to their

schedule and arrived in uniform, taking their seats in the stands right

behind the Seviers.

Polly Redden had never met the Seviers, but she learned of them through

friends after her son was born with Down syndrome.

Mrs. Redden, a third-grade teacher at Rockwall's Springer Elementary School,

brought 4-month-old to see Mason play.

" It's such an inspiration for a child with a disability to see they can

participate, " Mrs. Redden said. " I could start crying. "

Mrs. Sevier said Mason will want to watch video replays every day for years,

even though his Mustangs ultimately lost to the Wildcats.

Mason got a standing ovation from fans of both teams when he netted the ball

and that's what he'll remember, she said.

Mason stayed humble through it all.

" It's my team, " he said. " My team. "