I attended a high school basketball game tonight, York Tech at Dallastown. Dallastown features Pitt 2023 football recruit, Kenny Johnson and potential D1 2025 football recruit Michael Scott. DJ Smith is probably Dallastown’s best player on a mediocre team. I wasn’t there to see any of them, however.
Dallastown’s team manager, Jonah Stefko, is a senior and is on the autism spectrum. Jonah was going to dress for tonight’s game, and the teams had worked out an agreement to let Jonah score the first basket, prior to the clock starting and not counting to the score. Dallastown won the tip and fed the ball to Jonah for a layup. He missed the first couple shots but kept trying, eventually making a basket to a roar of applause. It was a nice gesture and he seemed to be very happy. His story isn’t over, however.
Dallastown was ahead by 30 points with 3:00 left in the game. Dallastown had gotten all of their backups into the game at this point, but the student started chanting JO-NAH… JO-NAH… JO-NAH. You could see the head coach talking to Jonah and Jonah seemingly reluctant to go in. Jonah enters the game and he’s a little like a fish out of water but his teammates are helping him. Dallastown got the ball, and Jonah ran to the deep corner. He got the ball and fired up a pretty jump shot, but it rimmed out. That happened on a few more possessions and eventually Jonah connected on a 3 point basket. It wasn’t the staged event prior to the clock starting, this was during live game action. Such a wonderful moment for this young man. It was an amazing, spontaneous moment. It didn’t impact the outcome of the game, but I’ll bet Jonah won’t forget his moment.
Dallastown’s team manager, Jonah Stefko, is a senior and is on the autism spectrum. Jonah was going to dress for tonight’s game, and the teams had worked out an agreement to let Jonah score the first basket, prior to the clock starting and not counting to the score. Dallastown won the tip and fed the ball to Jonah for a layup. He missed the first couple shots but kept trying, eventually making a basket to a roar of applause. It was a nice gesture and he seemed to be very happy. His story isn’t over, however.
Dallastown was ahead by 30 points with 3:00 left in the game. Dallastown had gotten all of their backups into the game at this point, but the student started chanting JO-NAH… JO-NAH… JO-NAH. You could see the head coach talking to Jonah and Jonah seemingly reluctant to go in. Jonah enters the game and he’s a little like a fish out of water but his teammates are helping him. Dallastown got the ball, and Jonah ran to the deep corner. He got the ball and fired up a pretty jump shot, but it rimmed out. That happened on a few more possessions and eventually Jonah connected on a 3 point basket. It wasn’t the staged event prior to the clock starting, this was during live game action. Such a wonderful moment for this young man. It was an amazing, spontaneous moment. It didn’t impact the outcome of the game, but I’ll bet Jonah won’t forget his moment.
Last edited:
