U-46 Bluestars basketball headed to state

The Elgin Area School District U-46 Bluestars senior basketball team members are practicing their defense, jump shots and assists as they prepare to compete in the 2017 Special Olympics Illinois State Basketball Competition next weekend at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

The senior team qualified for state by placing first in the January regionals.

The Bluestars, made up of students ages 16 to 22, will compete against their peers with special needs on Friday and Saturday, March 17-18.

Bluestars player and Center House student Erik Rio will try out for Team Illinois Saturday afternoon during the state competition. Erik is the only Special Olympics Illinois player nominated from the far west suburban area to tryout for state.

"This was our first chance to nominate someone for Team Illinois and Erik immediately came to mind," said U-46 Bluestars coach Maureen Lue. "He has an awesome team spirit and is one of our key players who can shoot and rebound. Erik has got it all."

If Erik is one of the 10 players selected for Team Illinois, he will qualify to start training for the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games, July 1-6 in Seattle, Washington.

The following students will play at state: Syed Raza, sophomore at Bartlett High School; Braden Graves, sophomore at Elgin High School; Nathan Pesina, junior at Larkin High School; Nicolas Pesina, junior at Larkin High School; Geoffrey Boston, junior at South Elgin High School; Joey Durante, senior at South Elgin High School; Jonathan Schaefer, freshman at South Elgin High School; Erik Rio, Center House; Lucas Pesina, Secondary Work Experience Program; Adrian Pozos, Secondary Work Experience Program; Alan Wywialowski, Secondary Work Experience Program; Ellen Moess, Clare Woods Academy; and Ben Shively, Camelot Therapeutic Day School.