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Big Game for Susquehanna Community High School Senior

SUSQUEHANNA — Sean Branning of Susquehanna is a senior at Susquehanna Community High School. He has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. He loves basketba...

SUSQUEHANNA -- Sean Branning of Susquehanna is a senior at Susquehanna Community High School. He has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. He loves basketball and is on the team at Susquehanna.

He's played basketball for years, but Tuesday night was perhaps the most special game of his life.

"The situation played out completely spur of the moment and the Elk Lake coach sent the seniors from Elk Lake back in with Sean. They've become very good friends and the video pretty much speaks for itself,” said Lawrence Tompkins, the head varsity basketball coach at Susquehanna Community.

The video shows Sean, grabbing the ball on several occasions and then scoring his first--and then second--basket of his varsity career during the end of a game versus Elk Lake.

“It felt amazing. I was thinking, 'Alright, I might not score, but there's a 50/50 shot.' The coach told me, 'Branning, you're going in.' And when we did our motion, 'Pound it in to Branning,' and right there, just two easy baskets,” said Branning.

Branning's teammates were thrilled. He says his mom nearly cried and fans on both sides were on their feet cheering.

Sean has many friends at Elk Lake. He's a senior at Susquehanna Community, but he attends the Susquehanna County Vocational and Technical School at Elk Lake.

"It was everyone, not even just Susquehanna, even like Elk Lake, everyone was cheering for him. It was awesome,” said Garret Grausgruber, a Susquehanna Community High School Junior and one of Sean’s teammates.

"He is the best teammate you could ever ask for. You know he supports everybody whether they're a junior, sophomore, or freshman and he's just a joy to coach. He brings a light to my day,” said Coach Tompkins.

Elk Lake may have scored more points at that game, but Sean felt like the real winner.

“We have a great team, we push each other hard every practice," said Branning.

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