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AUGUSTA — Maranacook/Winthrop’s Sammy Adam missed the shot, but no worries. Oak Hill’s Olivia Young grabbed the rebound and flipped the ball back to Adam in the middle of the lane. This time, his shot was true.

They were playing in the first game of the Augusta Civic Center Unified Basketball Play Day. Unified basketball is the best thing about high school sports, an opportunity for special needs students to experience being a part of a team and everything that comes with it.

There’s a thrill that comes when a gym full of fans cheers for something you did. There’s no reason that should be reserved just for our best athletes. Not at the high school level. Unified sports fill an unnecessary void.

“The adrenaline, it kicks up,” said Hunter Allen, a ninth grader at Lisbon and a member of the Greyhounds Unified basketball team. “I made some new friends.”

The round robin included four teams: Oak Hill, Maranacook/Winthrop, Lisbon and Leavitt. It was the idea of Ed Zuis, now in his second year as Oak Hill’s Unified basketball coach. The season ends with a big round robin tournament. Why not have one early in the season, too?

Why not have it somewhere big?

“I said, ‘Heck, let’s call Augusta,'” Zuis said.

The Augusta Civic Center offered Jan. 29, and Zuis and Oak Hill athletic director Jim Palmer accepted. A grant from Special Olympics covered the costs, including the $1,000 building rental fee.

“Coaching Unified basketball is just a joy,” Zuis said. “There’s lots of smiles, and lots of fun.”

Craig Brown is Hunter Allen’s foster grandfather. He sat in the front row behind the scorer’s table and cheered for Hunter and the Greyhounds, along with the other teams.

“I love coming to these games,” Brown said. “They’re a lot of fun. A lot of sportsmanship. A lot of camaraderie.”

Later, as Lisbon played Leavitt, Hunter grabbed a rebound and dribbled hard up the court. He stopped at the 3-point line and popped a shot, as he had promised before the game. The shot missed a little wide to the left of the rim, but that was OK. There would be more shots.

Brown said playing basketball has helped Hunter gain confidence. That’s a common theme for the players.

“When he first started, he didn’t know what to do out there,” Brown said. “From where he originally started to where he is, it’s remarkable.”

Minutes after missing the 3-pointer, Hunter swished a jumper from the free-throw line, getting cheers from across the arena. Playing in this big room instead of a small high school gym? No sweat, he said.

“Get the ball, shoot the ball. Nothing to it,” Hunter said.

The lesson we can all take from Unified hoops is this is supposed to be fun. There is joy on every inch of the court, and it shouldn’t be hard to find.

In a few weeks, we’ll be back at the Augusta Civic Center for the annual rite of February vacation week, the high school basketball regional tournaments. There will be bigger crowds and a 100% increase in gripe volume. We will take the games much too seriously. We will bark at the referees on the court, whether we know the rules or not. We will nitpick coaches’ decisions. We won’t let basketball just be a game.

Thursday, though, it was a game, played by competitors who just wanted to have fun with their friends, in front of fans who offered cheers and support regardless of the color of the jersey.

It was Unified basketball, and it was perfect.