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Local middle schooler with no arms makes buzzer beater basket

Posted at 7:53 PM, Mar 31, 2017
and last updated 2019-03-26 10:16:51-04

It was coming own to the final seconds for the Eagles. The team grabbed a rebound with just enough time to get off one last shot. They made the bucket right as the buzzer went off. 

It’s the kind of shot you put in the hands of the player you trust.

“I mean everything was going in slow motion,” said Jamarion Styles.

To be clear, the team had a pretty comfortable lead. But what’s so extraordinary about that buzzer beating bucket, is Styles was the player who made it. The 13 year-old basketball player has no arms.

“It was crazy, man. It was a good feeling,” said Styles.

His teammate Edgar Allen got him the ball. “Honestly, before it was going in, I knew it was going in,” said Allen.

Styles lost his arms when he was a baby from an infection. However, what he gained was determination.

“To be able to have that type of passion and driven attitude toward playing a sport, it amazed me,” said Styles’ coach Darian Williams. “It was a no brainer that I had to have him on my team.”

As you can imagine it wasn’t always easy for Styles.

“Like outside, just pickup games that we would play, no one would pick me up.”

But that didn’t stop this 8th grader.“Every time we have team practice, every time we don’t have practice, I’m out there on the court.”

And the proof is right there in the video. In fact, he made two threes that night. They were his first points of the season. While on the surface, this story is about basketball. Styles has a much deeper message.

“Don’t doubt yourself. You can do anything.”

The Eagles Landing’s boys’ basketball team has another big game Friday night. That game will determine whether they go to the playoffs.