A Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) team made up of three SONC athletes and two Unified partners brought home a silver medal in their division in the 2025 Special Olympics North America (SONA) Unified Women’s 3×3 Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 6, 2025.
This team doesn’t give up, stop, or slow down.
Ten teams of Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners from the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean competed in the tournament. Unified competition allows individuals with intellectual disabilities, Special Olympics athletes, and individuals without intellectual disabilities, Unified partners, to train and compete together.
Special Olympics North Carolina’s team included:
- Gabi Angelini, Wake County, athlete
- Elli Baumann, Durham County, Unified partner
- Clare Feole, Orange County, athlete
- Loranda Quicksey-Mills, Lee County, athlete
- Takiyah Rustin, Cabarrus County, Unified partner
- Kayla Crayton, Cabarrus County, coach
“This team doesn’t give up, stop, or slow down. They gave it everything they had for the whole game,” said coach Crayton.
3×3 basketball (pronounced “three-ex-three”) is a fast-paced, half-court version of traditional basketball. FIBA officially governs it and has grown from streetball roots into a globally recognized sport—even making its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. A key feature is that each team consists of three players on the court. Games are played for 10 minutes or end sooner when the first team scores 21 points. It’s a half-court format and a single hoop. The basketball is unique in that it is the same weight as a standard men’s ball but slightly smaller.
The tournament was held in partnership with Pacers Sports & Entertainment and the Indiana Fever.
About Special Olympics North Carolina
Since 1968, the organization has used the transformative power of sports to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Nearly 53,000 athletes (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and Unified partners (individuals without intellectual disabilities) in North Carolina inspire thousands of coaches, sports officials, local program committee members, and event organizers involved in Special Olympics statewide. SONC offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels, as well as health and wellness initiatives to improve the health status and increase access to community health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Youth become agents of change through Unified Champion Schools, an education and sports-based program created by Special Olympics to build an inclusive environment among youth with and without intellectual disabilities, as well as empower them to become youth leaders and create change in their community. Engage with us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
