FINISH

After the confetti stopped raining down and the Warhawks accepted their trophy, the players and staff surrounded the basket in front of their bench and started individually climbing the ladder to each cut down a piece of the net. The first strand didn’t go to a player or even to someone with the ability to cut it down on his own.

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That fabric instead went to 22-year-old AJ Bocchini, a team manager for the past three seasons who has become an integral part of the group. Bocchini, who is confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, will graduate next year and hopes of coaching at the Division III level at some point in the future.

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Bocchini’s father, a high school athletic director, asked Miller when Bocchini enrolled if there was any way to get him involved with the team. He ended up handling the team’s shot clock during home games and becoming one of the locker room’s most spirited personalities in the process.