Tornados
Submitted by Duane Tyndall, Area 24 Special Olympics
GRAND RAPIDS — Two basketball teams from Area 24 Special Olympics attended the State Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 22 in Grand Rapids.. The Chaos and Tornados teams each earned a spot in the state tournament by winning their respective divisional districts in Shepard on March 1.
The Area 24 Chaos basketball team had a strong showing at the Special Olympics Michigan State Finals, at the Special Olympics Unified Sports and Inclusion Center. Playing in Division 6, up from Division 9 the previous year, Chaos started the weekend with a solid 36-17 win over Andrew’s Army from Area 13. The team advanced to the championship game against the Walled Lake Barracudas from Area 15, where it played hard but came up short, finishing with a 49-14 loss and a well-earned silver medal. While the weekend had its ups and downs, the way the team members supported each other on and off the court was something special.
The Tornados team also played well at the Calvin University Spoelhof Sports Complex competing in Division 4. The first game was a back-and-forth battle with multiple lead changes heading into the fourth quarter. Holding a slim lead, the Tornados made a couple late steals resulting in baskets to take a hard fought 38-33 win against the A17 Roadrunners putting the team into the championship game. In the championship game the Tornados fought hard but lost to a talented Area 26 Lions team 36-24. With its showing the Tornados also finished in second place and team members received silver medals.
The Chaos and Tornados teams represented Area 24 with heart and determination every step of the way.
Congratulations to all the Special Olympics athletes for an outstanding season! Area 24 is so proud of you all!
Chaos
__________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
Payment can be made monthly via credit card, bank account, PayPal or Venmo through recurring email invoicing. These payments can be set up for autopay each month.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.jpg)