8th Grade Blue-February 11-12

YBA Xtreme Blue 35 vs. Cal Reign 44

Saturday 2/13/11 at 9:00 a.m. YBA squared off against a solid Cal Reign team. YBA played a solid first half. Offensive execution was solid which translated into only being down 5 at the half.  However, in the second half, too many turnovers and a lack of defensive rebounding allowed Cal Reign to build upon their lead and go on to win by 9. Keys for improvement from this game: reduce turnovers, come to passes, rebound the ball on the defensive end. 

• Defense player of the game:   Ish Oganesyan
• Offense player of the game: Ish Oganesyan
• Best Hustle: Ryan Rivas, Ryan Forest    
• Best Attitude: Zach Green (showing up & playing with injury requiring surgery this week)

YBA Xtreme Blue 46 vs. Berkeley Ballhawks 49 - Overtime

Call this a pre Valentine’s day heartbreaker.  Sunday 2/13/11 at 11:10 p.m. YBA squared off against the Berkeley Ballhawks.  YBA had great energy in a back and forth game.  Ryan Forest provided a spark in the 4^th qtr to help take this game into overtime.   In the end too many turnovers and little production from the interior players proved to be the difference in this one.  Keys for improvement from this game: get more bench production, get more interior production, rebound the ball on the defensive end, improve ball security (reduce turnovers), improve free throw shooting, close out games with leads.

• Defense player of the game:   Ish Oganesyan (took a charge)

• Offense player of the game: Ish Oganesyan  
• Best Hustle: Ryan Rivas, Ryan Forest     
• Best Attitude: Zach Green (showing up & playing with injury requiring surgery this week)

YBA Xtreme Blue 59 vs. Incline  64 - Overtime

Another heartbreaker - Sunday 2/13/11 at 3:30 p.m. YBA gave back a large early double digit lead.  Energy disappeared for the final 1:30 of the 4^th quarter… with a 5 point lead the on court attitude seemed to go from competitive to a smiling laugh festival during a final minute time out by Incline.  A couple of defensive lapses in the final minutes of regulation allowed a wide open 3 and a wide open layup to erase the 5 point lead and allow this game to go into OT.  Focus seemed to return in the 3 minute overtime but YBA again opted for long range jump shots instead of the solid pick and roll in the paint baskets that gave them the leads they had in this game. Keys for improvement get more production from the interior players, rebound the ball on the defensive end, improve ball security (reduce turnovers), improve free throw shooting, work for and take high percentage shots, close out games with leads. 

• Defense player of the game:   Ish Oganesyan  
• Offense player of the game:    Ish Oganesyan  
• Best Hustle:  Ryan Rivas, Ryan Forest     
• Best Attitude: Zach Green (showing up & playing with injury requiring surgery this week

8th Grade White-February 11-12

YBA Xtreme White vs. Reno Ballers

Saturday 2/12/11 at 10:05 a.m. YBA squared off against a solid Reno Ballers team. YBA missed several early basket chances and let the opponent gain confidence.  YBA struggled to break a half court zone match up press due to over dribbling instead of moving the ball quickly before the traps were set…quicker passing and cutting to open spaces and less dribbling would have proved more effective.  YBA gave up too many transition baskets. At times ball movement in the half court was excellent and led to easy baskets.  Keys for improvement from this game: reduce turnovers, come to passes, rebound the ball on the defensive end. 

• Defense player of the game:   Cody Abendschein (took a charge)
• Offense player of the game: none
• Best Hustle: Jermaine Washington,  Sanam Bains    
• Best Attitude: Cody Abendschein

YBA Xtreme White vs. Napa Boys and Girls Club

Sunday 2/13/11 at 12:15 p.m. YBA squared off against the Napa Boys and Girls Club.  YBA had great energy and took an early 10 point lead (a double digit lead is our first and a team record for the season excellent well done). Excellent movement without the ball and attacking the basket for high percentage baskets gave us the early lead but reverting back to a steady diet of quick long range shots and not playing as a team (finding the open man) let this one get away.  Our defense was solid at times.   Keys for improvement from this game: up our intensity, rebound on the defensive end, take higher percentage shots on offense.  Also nice job adjusting to some pre game adjustments to our offensive set good practice for following plays drawn up on the fly in high school.

• Defense player of the game:   Cody Abendschein
• Offense player of the game: Sanam Bains
• Best Hustle: Tyrell Minor     
• Best Attitude: Josh O’neal, Cody Abendschein

YBA Xtreme White vs. Rocktown Ballers White

Sunday 2/13/11 at 2:25 p.m. YBA squared off against the Rocktown Ballers.  Energy was excellent for 28 minutes. We did an excellent job rebounding on both ends of the floor and running our slightly modified offensive man set.  I am extremely proud of our effort and thought the kids really left it out on the floor in this one…all any coach can ask.  Our best game as a team getting to the basket and finishing, getting fouled or finding the open man. If YBA can attack the basket like we did down the stretch for 28 minutes and take high percentage shots we will continue to become more and more competitive.  YBA’s man defense was outstanding.  Keys for improvement continue to reduce turnovers, continue to make the extra pass on offense, take high percentage shots. 

• Defense player of the game:   Tyrell Minor, Cody Abendschein, Josh O’Neal
• Offense player of the game:    Mathew Dzwilewski
• Best Hustle:  Jermaine Washington, Tyrell Minor, Mathew Dzwilewski, Sanam Bains, Cody Abendschein, Josh O’Neal
• Best Attitude: Cody Abendschein, Tyrell Minor

7th Grade Blue-February 11-12

This weekend we played in a "surprise" tournament that we weren't expecting to be in. We played hard and our effort was to the level needed to have success unfortunately our execution wasn't. We struggled with turnovers and simple mistakes, losing both games by a total of 14 points. Our offense is improving as we made more shots. Our defense had minor setbacks in the halfcourt and some issues with only 4 players pressing at once but we are progressing overall and I see the big picture, that we'll be a force in the sessions to come. Individually, we had some excellent performances with TJ Aldrich-Shadle, Matt Stockman, & Jacob DeBartoli playing big parts in the first game. TJ was joined by Austin Lipsmeyer and Davion Andrews as the top performers in the second game. Overall, it was a good weekend as the pizza party Saturday night helped to erase some of the pain of the tough losses earlier in the day.

We have come miles from where we started but it's only the beginning of the journey.

Coach Adam

7th Grade White-February 11-12

We started the game off on the right foot against the Folsom Thunder as the first quarter came to a close with the scoreboard showing us down by a bucket at 5-7. Unfortunately we were unable to keep the momentum going and with them putting up over 13 points in the third quarter, the game got away from us. Again, we were ready for some revenge against the Rocktown Ballers but despite outstanding play from a few of our players, we failed to capitalize on the many opportunities that presented themselves. Our heads aren't down, despite our frustration, the boys are ready to push forward and use this as a learning lesson as we prepare for our next tournament.

Player of the Tournament: Jason

Defense: Garret

Offense: Chris

Hustle: Joseph & Tanner

6th Grade Blue-February 11-12

Game #1
Unfortunately I was late to this game which I believe really effected the flow of the game for the guys.  Once we got our rhythm it was too late.  Sorry guys...

Game #2
We started off with a really energetic offense. We were rebounding great! Grant was scoring on the inside and making jump shots. He was unstoppable.  Everyone played awesome leading us to a double digit win.

Game #3
Started off a little flat. We had trouble against the other teams half court press.  We were extremely competative.  We had a few runs, but we just could not seem to make a basket.  We played hard the whole game, but just couldn't close the gap.

Best Offense goes to Matt V.
Best Hustle goes to Grant S

6th Grade White-February 11-12

The guys played great all weekend.  There were some really tough games, but with the high level of energy and the guys not giving up we came away with a win this weekend.  They guys really played hard.

5th Grade Blue-February 11-12

The guys had a great weekend, winning all three games and a first place trophy!  Highlights from the weekend include, great defense by all four point guards, Derek, Diego, Arthur, and Matt. Down low in the post, Jade, Adam, and Jackson took care of business with great rebounding and some impressive low-post moves. Jacob and Todd both played great, with Cruz hitting some big shots in game three. All in all, the guys have shown tremendous effort and improvement! Keep it up!

5th Grade White-February 11-12

After having the previous two weekends off, the boys have been working hard at practice and were eager to put what they learned to work in tournament play. The Reno Ballers did not have an answer at the post and Harmon Kehell turned in another dominating performance with 12 points (6 of 10 field), 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Our full court run and jump press wreaked havoc on the Reno Ballers guards (James Sweet 5 steals, Cole Cavarra 4 steals, and Jarod Robbins 3 steals). The tenacious defensive effort enroot to our 31-24 victory was led by Cole Cavarra (3 Blocks, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 points).

With one win under our belt, the team faced the 2-0 Davis Wildcats which had won both their games by blow out margins.  Davis’s 2-2-1 zone press which had stifled their previous opponents was no match for the attacking guard play of Brennan Rozell, James Sweet (5 assists), and RJ Billena. The team led by as many as 16 points in the second. In the second half we dominated both the offensive and defensive boards (Zack Book 9 rebounds, Cole Cavarra 8 rebounds, 10 points, and 2 Blocks). Leading the way to our 38-24 win was another great performance by Harmon Kehell 10 points (5-8 field), 3 offensive rebounds, and 2 steals.

In our third game we faced a much smaller and often confused Rocktown Ballers squad. Nevertheless Rocktown jumped out to a 11-4 first quarter lead on 3-3 3 point shooting by one of their wings. In the second quarter we came out hungry for hardware and our relentless full court press defense took over (James Sweet 5 steals, Cole Cavarra 4 steals, and RJ Billena 3 steals), outscoring the Ballers 13-0. In the second half, great offensive performances by Cole Cavarra 14 points and Harmon Kehell 8 points (4-7 field) led the boys to a 41-22 victory and their second championship.

4th Grade-February 11-12

This weekend was all about growth.  In our first game, we played fairly well.  Although we had an opportunity to let our opponents back into the game in the fourth quarter, we maintained our composure and finished the game strong.  Our help defense is still a little slow, but it’s getting better every week.  This will be a continued focus for us going forward.

In our second game we took a lose to a very big and athletic team.  Unfortunately we could not get our offense to click against their 2/3 zone.  We will tweak our offense in this week’s practice to help us adjust to a tight zone defense.  Our boys still were able to play good enough defense to win, which is encouraging.  The Hoopsters raised the bar for us.  This is a good thing in our preparation for the next couple of sessions. 

Our last game of the weekend was a fun game.  This game allowed us to play many of our players who haven’t played much this session.  They did a great job of pulling out to a lead and maintaining it.  We ran the pick and roll on a few occasions to perfections.  I can’t tell you how proud I was of those boys for translating what we learned in practice to the game. 

I think this weekend every player grew a little bit better.  We had opportunities to play some players in new and unfamiliar positions. Some of our weaknesses were exposed in the second game and I really think this is going to make this team even stronger.  I have said since the first of the year that I want this team to peak for our Reno tournament.  We have 3 months to go and plenty of growth ahead.  All of us should be encouraged by how our boys have done so far and what lies ahead for them.  Although we didn’t come home with a trophy, we had a great weekend overall. 

Coach Mack

3rd Grade-February 11-12

The team finished 1-2 for the weekend,and overall, it was a successful weekend. They had a really rough game against a far more talented 916 Select team, but learned that the game of basketball is a physical game. They bounced right back, playing a back-to-back game. After losing by a large margin, they came back to beat CalReign by a HUGE margin! A 30 point win always makes the losses not so bad.

In their final game on Sunday, the team played the FEBA Bulldogs, and lost by nine. They had to claw their way back from a double-digit deficiet, but couldn't quite pull it out.

Overall, the coaches were really proud of the team, and how they played. Great passes, tough defense and a sprinkle of very smart play showed the players are making strides to become better basketball players.