Autistic twin equipment managers honor late father with tremendous hoops performance
Surely, you've seen plenty of inspiring high school basketball team managers with disabilities light up the court when their coaches call their name, but this story will warm your heart even more than most.
Wolfforth (Texas) Frenship High twins Andrew and Matthew Reyna -- both of whom have autism -- lost their ailing father on Dec. 9, but the equipment managers never missed a practice, never missed a game, never missed a moment of their team's season, according to a feature by KLBK-TV (h/t Extra Mustard).
Frenship freshman coach Shannon Beeles told KLBK-TV of his 15-year-old assistants, "They said, No, we need to be with our other family, do our job and take care of these guys. We need to be here.'"
Beeles rewarded the Reynas by inserting them into the team's final regular-season game, against district rival Lubbock (Texas), and the twins reportedly responded with 15 fourth-quarter points on five 3-pointers.
"They rushed the court," Matthew Reyna told the news station. Rival Lubbock fans even joined in the celebration. "I thought it was like us winning the NBA Finals. I mean that's how exiting it was."
In the aftermath of their greatest triump, they reflected on their greatest loss. "I think he was probably thinking, 'Gosh, my boys are strong,'" Andrew Reyna said of his father, "and that's what we would want."
The two boys also earned Frenship's Students of the Month honor in January. Quite a run for the Reynas.
