The Cahaba Center for Mental Health found itself in a tied basketball game Monday against Montgomery Therapeutic Recreation Center, but Cahaba head coach Tracy Vaughn had one final trick up his sleeve.

During the fourth quarter, Vaughn stationed Tanya Pitts at the 3-point line and she stayed there, even if the ball was on the other side of the court. When Cahaba got the ball, players threw it down the court to the wide-open Pitts, who knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers to lead Cahaba to a 52-41 win.

“We try to employ that kind of strategy with both of our teams,” Vaughn said. “If we’ve got big men that get a rebound and they look up and see somebody wide open, that’s an easy layup.”

Or, in Pitts’ case, an easy 3-pointer.

Thanks in part to Pitts, Cahaba’s A-team held on for a victory. Cahaba’s B-team, which played the first game of the day, was on the wrong side of the scoreboard and lost.

However, Monday was more than just about winning and losing. Vaughn said being on the basketball court and getting to play means a lot to the men and women of the Cahaba Center.

“It means the world to them. If we were to lose basketball and track and field, I think a lot of them wouldn’t probably come anymore,” said Vaughn, who works as a home manager at the Cahaba Center. “They look forward to basketball, track and field and they look forward to seeing their friends on a daily basis.”

Monday marked the first time the Cahaba Center has ever held one of its basketball games at the YMCA of Selma-Dallas County. The center practices at the YMCA once a week, but had never actually played a game there.

“It gives people a chance to form relationships and to excel at something,” said Carrie Bearden, director of developmental disability services at the Cahaba Center.

The Cahaba Center will hold its annual basketball tournament at Wallace Community College on February 17 from 9 a.m.-noon.