“This is a great win for our adult Hotwheels and a real testimony to all the hard work they’ve put in this season after finishing sixth at last year’s national tournament,” says Ava Skrabanek, coordinator, adaptive sports program, TIRR Memorial Hermann.
The team arrived at the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s National Championship Tournament as the number one seed in their division and defeated teams from Tennessee, Indiana, North Carolina, and Florida to earn the title. This is the first National Championship for the TIRR Memorial Hermann Adult Hotwheels.
The TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Hotwheels fell just a few points short of defending their title. The Junior Hotwheels lost to the Minnesota Junior Timberwolves 53-50 in what was a rematch of last year’s national championship game in the varsity division.
“Our junior Hotwheels played an incredible game and we’re so proud of each one of our players and the contributions they made throughout the season,” says Skrabanek. “It’s not easy to repeat as a national champion and we came very, very close.”
There were more accolades for the junior Hotwheels as head coach Trice Ham was named the Coach of the Year by the National Wheelchair Basketball association. TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Hotwheels senior Abraham Hausman-Weiss was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player. Hausman-Weiss will attend the University of Alabama in the fall as a scholarship athlete with the school’s men’s wheelchair basketball team.
The adult and junior Hotwheels basketball teams are part of the adaptive sports program at TIRR Memorial Hermann. For more information or to participate in any of the adaptive sports programs available through TIRR Memorial Hermann please email TIRRTR@memorialhermann.org or call 713-797-5928.