‘We want Reid’: Port Moody student stuns after being called in to basketball tournament

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A Grade 12 student in Port Moody with Down syndrome stole the show at a high school basketball tournament Thursday.

A post on social media shows Reid Demelo from Heritage Woods launching and sinking a deep three-point shot right at the buzzer.

The schools athletic director Greg Schellenberg says there were 1,300 students in the stands watching the first game of the annual Kodiak Klassic tournament.

With two minutes left in the game, the Heritage Woods Kodiaks were beating their rivals the Kitsilano Blue Demons.

“All of a sudden the crowd starts chanting: ‘We want Reid! ‘We want Reid!’ And it’s deafening, you can’t ignore it.”

https://twitter.com/CanadaBarstool/status/1200547740251574272

So Schellenberg went to  the coach of the other team.

“Here’s the story,” Schellenberg told the rival couch. “We’ve got a student with Down’s syndrome and there are 1,300 people in this gymnasium right now chanting for him go into the game. He’s not on our team, he’s a student at our school. How do you feel about subbing him in?”

Reid went into the game with 30 seconds left. After he sunk the three-pointer at the buzzer it was “absolute mayhem.”

Schellenberg describes Reid as a loyal supporter of all the school sports teams and a familiar fixture in the gym.

“He’s got this incredible spirit about him. He’s so positive. Just an awesome, awesome kid.”