Basketball team gives opposing player with Down syndrome his big shot

TACOMA, Wash. (WPVI) -- It's the type of moment hoop dreams are made of.

Basketball season may be over in the Tacoma Middle School league. But the crowd is still going wild.

Basketball is life for 15-year-old Michael Menges, KOMO-TV reports. Two years ago, he could barely even toss the ball. Now, he'll tell you all about his favorite star, Michael Jordan.

So when this player wanted to "be like Mike," the coaches ran with it and had him play side by side with his brother Brian. Michael has Down syndrome.

Michael's team had a healthy lead over the Bethany Bobcats about a minute left, so the team that was losing tosses him the ball, just so Michael can score.

"We know that the game is out of reach and we know that was the right thing to do to give him the ball," said opposing player Ethan Hoefler.

The score didn't matter. It was getting Michael his moment.

"What we try to stress is that sometimes parts of the game are bigger than the game itself, and that was one of those times," said Bobcats Coach Chris Denney.