The Harlem Globetrotters made an 8-year-old Dayton boy’s New Year’s Eve memorable.

At Christmastime, Jacob Gonet found out that he won a contest and was receiving four tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters appearance at the E.J. Nutter Center on New Year’s Eve day. The Globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team, are known for their entertaining theatrics and comedy, as well as their athleticism, on the basketball court.

As a contest winner, Jacob was able to meet players Scooter and Handles before the game, receive an autographed basketball and shirt, and sit on the Globetrotters’ bench during the game.

“I thought it was great,” said Jacob, a third-grader at Helke Elementary School in Vandalia. “It was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Jacob was one of two winners in the Win a Chance for Your Child to be a Junior Harlem Globetrotter Sweepstakes, sponsored by WHIO-TV and The Original Harlem Globetrotters. The other winner, from 364 entries, was 6-year-old Zac Niekamp of Wapakoneta.

“I entered his name into a contest, and I actually forgot about it,” said Jacob’s mother, Melissa Gonet. While driving home from work on Christmas Eve, she received a phone call and was told that Jacob had won four tickets to the game.

“He’s a big fan of all sports,” Melissa said about her son. “He watches basketball and football with my husband (Matt).”

The Globetrotter game turned into an extended family event. Gonet explained that before Christmas, a relative had bought eight tickets to the game so that the fathers and sons in the family could go and watch.

“We didn’t know she had bought these tickets for Christmas,” Gonet said.

The extra four tickets that Jacob won meant that more family members could attend. Jacob attended the game with his parents, his 10-year-old sister, Courtney, and other family members or friends.

Gonet said that all the family members were allowed to go with Jacob to the meet-and-greet area before the game.

“It wasn’t just fun for the kids, it was fun for the adults,” Gonet said about the day.

Gonet noted that she was grateful for an opportunity her son will never forget.

“He has carried around his autographed basketball all day,” she added.