Success has followed Steve Serio throughout his U.S. Paralympic career. He’s earned two gold medals and a bronze over his four Paralympic Games playing for the wheelchair basketball team.
Serio plans to wrap up his Paralympic career in Paris. He had no shame in sharing that news, either. He’s helped lead the Americans to a semifinal berth — one win away from the gold-medal game. But it won’t be the medals or the wins that Serio remembers, it will be the little things.
Spending time with teammates in the cafeteria, enjoying the Paralympic village, having fun on team bus rides and building relationships with his teammates. Those are the things he will miss when his Paralympic career is over.
“I've actually taken the time to appreciate living in the moment a little bit more than I have in the past,” Serio said.
Serio’s final Paralympic Games are off to a great start. The Americans solidified themselves as the top team in Group B after going undefeated. It continued with a quarterfinal win on Wednesday.
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Serio dropped 13 points on 43% shooting from the field as the U.S. defeated France 82-47, on Tuesday night. It was Serio’s younger counterparts who have stolen the show in the Paris Games.
Jake Williams led the way on Tuesday with 23 points followed by Brian Bell’s 20 points. Both are two-time Paralympians, flanked by rookies like Jorge Salazar who scored 13. The future is bright for the U.S. wheelchair basketball program, and it is exciting for Serio.
“I'm very jealous that those athletes get a chance to compete in L.A.,” Serio said. “I would love to compete on my home soil, but it's an honor to share the court with them and to watch them grow over the course of these Paralympics.”
Trevon Jenifer, a four-time Paralympian for the U.S., got visible goosebumps just talking about the French crowd on Tuesday. Despite a dominating, blowout victory for the Americans, the crowd remaining loud and lively over the entire 40 minutes.
“It gets you rocking and rolling,” Jenifer said. “In my four quads that I've been in, I've had the opportunity to play each country in their home and it is the best, best feeling ever.”
It was an environment that rivaled the best that Jenifer and Serio played in.
“When you're in an environment like that, you have to feed off of it,” Serio said. “That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I want to thank the people of Paris for coming out and supporting the Paralympic athletes. That arena was one of the most fun arenas I've ever played in.”
The U.S. jumped out to an early 6-0 lead to open the game, allowing for some room for error. The French responded with a 7-0 run to open the second quarter, igniting an already raucous crowd and forcing a U.S. timeout at the 6:55 mark. From there, it was all America the rest of the way.
Serio called Tuesday the world’s coming out party, noting the strangeness of the Tokyo Games without the crowd. The coming-out party doubles as his last Games, one that features his loved ones in the stands.
“Every [Paralympic] Games has their own personality,” Serio said. “... This is the chance for friends and family to be in the stands and share this moment with us, and we're not taking it for granted. It's been a real honor to play in front of them.”
Wheelchair Basketball Dominance: A Semifinal Berth Awaits
PARIS — Ixhelt Gonzalez converted an uncontested lay-up off a sweet backdoor pass from Becca Murray to give Team USA a 53-50 lead over Great Britain. It was a defining moment and a lead that the U.S. wouldn’t relinquish over the final two minutes in a 59-52 victory over their fellow English-speaking foes.
“It was a moment of relief – it felt like the world was off of our shoulders,” said Gonzalez, about the pivotal play.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games quarterfinal win at Bercy Arena on Wednesday afternoon sends the U.S. women onwards to a semifinal contest versus China, in two days, on Friday, Sept. 6.
Gonzalez – who at age 20, is the youngest player on Team USA – led the winning effort, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Rose Hollermann tallied 15 points and 13 boards.
Hollermann commended the red-hot Gonzalez, a petit player who displays experience on the hardwood well beyond her years.
“Ixhelt is young, but this is her second Paralympics – you can see that she is seasoned,” Hollermann said. “She’s changed her mentality and is kind of like our fire right now offensively. She comes off the bench with such intensity.
“We’ve had her on the team since she was teeny-tiny, so seeing this moment is really incredible for us,” she added.
The U.S. appeared to be cruising comfortably, possessing a 31-24 halftime lead. However, they would let it slip away. Great Britain’s Robyn Love scored from outside the paint to nab the lead, 48-47, with just over seven minutes remaining in the back-and-forth affair.
However, the U.S. didn’t panic and after more than two minutes without either team finding the net, Hollerman broke the drought scoring two key points off a nice feed from Courtney Ryan. The U.S. regained the lead, 49-48. Team GB jumped back ahead one minute later with two more from Love, before U.S. team captain Murray answered one minute later to propel the U.S. ahead, this time for keeps.
“It’s all about trust on this team and we wanted to make sure that no matter what happened in the third quarter, or the second half that we would come out on top,” said Gonzalez, who resides in Chicago, but whose parents are of Mexican descent.
The largest U.S. lead was 10 points, while at one stage Great Britain led by four.
The Road to Gold: A Semifinal Showdown with China
Team USA women’s wheelchair basketball – who brought home a bronze medal three years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – seek to extend their run here in Paris versus China in two days.
“China has been super excellent and has rightfully been in the gold medal games in all the last majors (tournaments),” Hollermann said. China claimed silver, having faltered to the Netherlands at Tokyo 2020.
“They’re so regimented and they always do the right thing every play, so we have to be disciplined. We have to focus on ourselves and if we play the basketball that we know we can we’ll be in the gold medal game.”
The red, white and blue last won the women’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, having defeated Germany.
Gonzalez would like nothing more than to bring a gold medal home to the U.S., just like three guys named LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were able to on the very same court at the very same Bercy Arena, a few weeks ago.
“For me, playing in this arena just shows how far our love for the sport takes us,” Gonzalez said. “My family is actually not here right now so I’m a little sad about that, but just the fact that we’re playing in the same arena as those Olympians is a really big thing for us.”
by Brian Pinelli
