When 11-year-old Mary Kippenhan showed up for her Special Olympics basketball game in Hanover last night, she was stunned to find that the young boys who have embraced her as an honorary member of their elite hockey team had skipped practice to cheer her on.

Decked out in their Boston Junior Terriers uniforms, a raucous cheering section of 10-year-old boys crowded into the stands at the Cardinal Cushing Centers gym, chanting, ?“Ma-ry, Ma-ry!” as their beloved special-needs teammate did what her dad says she loves to do more than anything else in the world — compete.

“This team, these boys, they’ve been just incredible for my daughter,” George Kippenhan told the Herald before the game. “It’s really been such a blessing for her.”

Mary’s life-changing journey started two years ago, her father said, when Terriers head coach Marty Decourcey spotted the little girl from Rockland struggling to stay on her feet at a “Learn to Skate” event.

Mary — who was diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy at 2 years old — had told her parents she wanted to take up ice hockey after watching Boston Bruins games with her dad.

“She took a step on the ice and she fell and she took a couple more steps and she fell again and it was there that we met coach Marty Decourcey,” Kippenhan said.

“He saw her and it was just kind of this moment. They were such kindred souls, him and Mary. He picked her up for the hour and was skating around with her and she had the time of her life.”

Three months later, after Mary’s parents had enrolled her in skating lessons, Kippenhan said Decourcey spotted the family at a soccer game and made her an offer that would change her life.

“He went right up to Mary out of the blue and said, ‘Hey Mary, I need you to join my hockey team, I need you to be a part ?of it,’” Kippenhan said.

When Mary mentioned the idea to her dad, he was stunned.

“I went over and said, ‘Marty, isn’t this team made up of ?really elite players?’ And he said: ‘Yeah, but I need Mary — she’s the missing link … I’ll see you ?at the first practice in September.’”

When Mary and her dad showed up for practice, they found a uniform, pads and skates waiting for her.

“I saw Mary and I saw the smile on her face and I knew she loved hockey,” Decourcey said.

“I knew that I wanted her to experience everything that hockey has to offer, and I think she’s returned that love of the game tenfold to my kids,” he said.

Not only does she get to sit on the bench in full uniform, take part in pregame warmups and travel with her teammates, Mary’s schedule has filled up with birthday parties, pizza outings and get-togethers.

“They’re phenomenal,” Decourcey said of his players. “We usually practice Tuesday nights, but we thought it would be better for them to spend the hour cheering Mary on.”

And if you ask her teammates, they’d tell you they’re happy to show Mary the same support she’s given them.

“We like to play for her,” 10-year-old Matthew Pierotti said. “She loves wins.”

A.J. Prioli, 10, of Weymouth, agreed, saying his favorite thing about Mary is “her attitude.”

“She’s always positive,” he said.

“Whenever we score a goal we go by the bench and she sticks her arm out and we ?always give her a high-five,” A.J. said.

For Mary and her parents, being part of the Boston Junior Terriers family means everything.

“These kids are her life,” her dad said.

“Being a little girl is tough anyway, but having special needs makes it hard socially to make friends. This goes way ?beyond hockey.”