8th Grade Blue-January 22-23

Game 3 - Sunday, 01/23: YBA Xtreme Blue 51 vs Rocktown Ballers White 49

Xtreme Blue showed good offense and defense intensity. Areas for improvement would be in practicing blocking out. Second quarter showed improved defense and pick/rolls on offense. Intensity good  1st half and better defense and offense to start of 2nd half with better rotating and using 2 3 defense.  Stretched out the court offensively which opened lanes which created shots for our team offensively. Jacob and Shawn continued high scoring streak down the stretch of the game - Ish, Justin, Shawn, Jabob, Ryan and Zach continued good team play throughout the 4th quarter.

 Game 2 - Sunday 1/23:  YBA Xtreme Blue 21  vs EDH Trojans Gold 39

EDH started game full press. Xtreme not handling press well.  Kids switching defense well. Poor passes on offense. Better job breaking press in 2nd quarter.  EDH breaking Xtreme defense down.  Low field goal percentage 1st half.  EDH hitting free throws.  Defense intensity good. Too many turnovers.  Going into first half with EDH: 20 Xtreme: 12 - started 1st offense series well. Defense sliding and helping. Offensively poor passes continue.  Press still giving problems and offense continued to struggle.  3rd quarter: EDH: 31 Xtreme: 18. Good defense starting 4th quarter.  EDH offensively very effective. Xtreme needs to continue to rebound more efficiently and the team needs to continue to play better defense.

Game 1 - Sat 01/22:  YBA Xtreme Blue 27 vs Mission City Maulers 72

Good learning experience for our team. We were overmatched in every phase of the game. Mission City Team pressed our team into sloppy passes and created a lot of turnover meaning easy baskets for their team. Overall I was pleased with the attitude of our team as we continued to compete throughout the game.

7th Blue-January 22-23

This weekend we were in the D2 level of the tournament at Hardwood Palace. We played hard and finished with 1 win and 2 losses, with one loss coming by 1 point when we had 4 shots to win the game in the last minute. We followed that game up with our winning effort and beat our next opponent by 4, and making the late game shots to put us into the lead and seal the win. Our last game was a measuring stick for us and the loss we suffered showed us that we must execute at a higher level to be able to compete against the next level of teams. 

Blue Team 28 Napa BGC 29

We started off missing 6 lay ups in a row and didn't score until the 1:40 mark. The score was 10-2 after one quarter and got as high as 16-6. We slowly fought our way back to 27-20 deficit. We controlled the game throughout the 4th quarter and trailed 28-29 with 1:35 left to go. Unfortunately, our poor shooting did us in late in the game as we missed our final 5 shots and couldn't get the winning score to fall.

 DEFENSIVE MVP: Will Duval for his overall Defensive performance and effort level

Blue Team 34 Firestorm 30

It was the same story, different game as far as the score and flow of the game. We trailed closely throughout the game, the major difference was that we hit shots early so we never had a big deficit to come back from. We again dominated the 4th quarter and took the lead 26-25 with 3 minutes left. We had a defensive lapse and a badly executed pass that resulted in a 5-0 run in 12 seconds that left us down 30-26 with 2:40 left. I was very happy (afterwards) because we didn't fold and we also capitalized on our opportunities. Monty Khela was huge throughout the game especially the start and finish as he scored 6 points in the 1st quarter and 7 of our last 10 points including 2 free throws to put us down 2 then a huge 3 point shot that put us up by 2 with 35 seconds left. TJ Aldrich-Shadle then sealed the game by grabbing a rebound and going coast to coast through their whole team for a layup to put us up 4 with 16 seconds.

 Defensive MVP: Matt Stockman for his performance in the press

Mr. Clutch: Monty Khela 

We played a very good El Dorado Hills Trojans team last and simply were over matched. We played them close every quarter except the 3rd. The defensive effort level and the teamwork were satisfactory, however we learned that it also takes execution, better ball security and capitalizing on our opportunities on both ends of the floor to be able to compete against a high level team. I love our team unity and spirit during the game, we took our loss with dignity and came out of it with a better understanding of our team and our weaknesses. We will improve on our performance and do better next time. 

 Defensive MVP: Adam Dollison for shutting down their primary scorer

  

Coaches Thoughts

 We stepped back to step forward this tournament as we had to learn how to lose a close one to learn how to win one. We showed strength of character, team unity & the resolve needed to be success. We cannot forget the lessons we learned, unless we want to repeat them. We our on the path that we want to be on, we have only to put in the work and allow time to work it's magic so we grow comfortable with each other as teammates and coaches. 

Coach Adam   

6th Blue-January 22-23

Saturday Game #1
We struggled against the zone defense of the other team, but as we regrouped as a team we began to make some good shots.  The boys did a great job in trying to make this a competitive game.

Game #2
This was a very competitive game from the start.  We lost, but the boys fought hard.  I thought the boys executed particularly well against the other teams full court press.

Sunday Game #3
Game #3 was a great team win.  In this game we ran our half court zone offense perfectly.

Best Hustle this weekend goes to Jakob H.
Best Offense goes to Austin R.
Best Defense goes to Grant S.

Thank you boys for a great weekend!

5th White-January 22-23

After winning their first championship the previous weekend confidence was high as the team faced a much more experienced Cal Reign team. Looking into the teeth of their first half court trap, the boys fell behind early turning the ball over frequently (19 turnovers). The second half effort was top-shelf and the boy’s battled back through James Sweet’s (4 steals) tenacious defense and Cole Cavarra’s hustle (7 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals), however late turnovers gave Cal Reign (Eventual tourney champs) a 31-29 victory.

After a disappointing loss the team faced the Rocktown Ballers. They did not have an answer for our size or quickness. Harmon Kehell dominated inside at the post with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Brennan Rozell (8 points, 2 steals) and James Sweet (5 points, 4 steals) took over the pace of the game at guard and relentlessly attacked the basket leading the team to a 33 to 26 victory.

In the consolation final we faced our fourth grade Dawgs team. Missing James Sweet and Collin MacPherson the team was short handed at the guard position and had iron man performances from RJ Billena (26 minutes) and Brennan Rozell (28 minutes). The fourth grade Dawgs were much more aggressive 19 fouls to 6 fouls and the boys learned the importance of becoming a better shooter (1-12 Free Throw Line). Despite an excellent rebounding performance (Cole Cavarra 11, Zack Book 10, and Jarod Robbins 8) the quicker and more aggressive Dawgs team was too much to handle and came out on top 33-25. The team was led by Zack Book’s 5 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assist.

3rd Grade-January 22-23

Playing in their first ALL 3rd Grade division, the team met up with some great opponents!  Against the FEBA Bulldogs Blue team, the team came from behind, using great defense, to win by 2 points.

In their second game, the team played FEBA Bulldogs Red, and won in OT! The team used smothering defense, and great passing to stay in the game. Riley Burrows hit two free throws in OT with four seconds left to put the team up by one and win the game!  Now that's "ice in the veins"!

In the championship game, the team played from behind all game, but made it exciting in the end with great hustle.  Although they lost, they played hard and showed glimpses of how good the team could be.

ALL players played well this weekend - they hustled and passed the ball with much improvement! Noted players for the tournament: Riley Burrows (Mr. Clutch), Matt Limon, Nick Oh(Hustle Award),Alex Portello (Mr. Offense), Jaedon Pughsley & Jayden Ohara (Inspirational/team player award).