SOUTH POINT — It has been said that it’s not about winning or losing, but how you play the game.

When the South Point Pointers and the Rock Hill Redmen face-off for an OVC basketball match-up on Jan. 6, both teams will play the game in hopes of winning, but also to raise the spirits of a little boy fighting a rare genetic disorder with a Night for Isaiah.

A first grader at South Point Elementary School, Isaiah Adkins has been diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease, which causes fatty lipids to collect in the cells of the spleen, liver and brain. Isaiah was granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation to travel to Disney World, but was unable to go due to a scheduling conflict in his treatment.

Kent Stewart, student council co-adviser at South Point High School, said the event on Jan. 6 was organized so the district and the community could bring Make-A-Wish to Isaiah.

The varsity basketball game will begin with Isaiah leading the Pointers out onto the court as a special member of the team. Both the Pointers and Redmen will wear “Team Isaiah” shirts in their respective team colors.

There will also be special surprises for Isaiah throughout the game.

“There are things I can’t even tell anyone about,” Stewart said.

Stewart said the outpouring of support from his council students and other students has been overwhelming. The students became the driving force behind organizing the entire event.

“I have done minimal work,” Stewart said. “The students have sold the shirts. The students have put the word out on Facebook. The students are volunteering to do anything and everything that needs to be done. They are all asking, ‘What can I do?’”

Stewart said about 50 to 75 students have helped in some way to make Isaiah’s night special. More than 300 “Team Isaiah” T-shirts printed by Casto’s Printing in Chesapeake were sold to raise money for medical care and travel expenses.

South Point athletic director Randy Smith got Rock Hill on board with the event as well.

“They have been so gracious,” Stewart said of the rival school. “I can’t thank Rock Hill enough for allowing this to happen. Without their cooperation, this really wouldn’t have happened. My sincere thanks to them.”

The varsity teams will play after the 6:30 p.m. JV match. If they are available, extra T-shirt will be for sale and there will be an information table about Niemann-Pick disease set up.