YBA Dawgs 1st Annual Coach's Game

Dawgs, have you ever wondered "coach sure seems to know a lot I wondered if he could play?" or " coach is always on me to use my left hand does he use his left hand when he plays?". Well it is time to find out.

Announcing the YBA Dawgs First Annual Coach's Game.

Come out to Hardwood Palace on Sunday May 23rd at 7:00 pm to see how the games was played. Players this will also give you a chance to remind the coaches to hustle back on defense, block out their man, and to bump the cutter.

Coaches have promised not to wear their old school shorts!!!

Dawgs Weekly Trivia Questionnaire #4

Answer the following random questions, then email your answers to ybadawgpound@yahoo.com by Friday at 8pm each week. Please include your first and last name and the team you represent. The contestants who get all the answers correctly will be entered in a drawing to receive a $20 Starbucks giftcard! There will be one winner per week. Winners will be announced the following week. Have fun and good luck!

1)  Name the 3 teams that the 4th grade team played.
2)  Name the leading scorer in the game against the Phenoms from Garcia's 9th grade team.
3)  Who did the JV Blue team play in their 1st game and who was named MVP in that game?
4)  Name the players who the 5th grade blue coach named, "Mr. Intangible", "Mr. Clutch", and "Mr. Hustle".
5)  Name the player who was the "top scorer" in the 3rd grade division

Winner and Answers from Week #3

Congratulations to last week's winner, Tye Lewis representing the 5th Grade Blue Team!  See Ken for your $20 Starbucks card...

Here are the answers: 

1) What was the average points scored in the 3 games that the YBA Blue 5th grade team this past Saturday?

73 points
2) Name the teams who took 1st place this past weekend.
Varsity Blue, 8th Blue, 7th Blue, 7th white, 5th Blue
3) Who did YBA 9th-Red play in their 2nd game and what was the final score?
Comets.  YBA-53, Comets-36
4) How many players fouled out in the 7th grade White team's championship game?
2 players
5) Who was the "key scorer" in the 3rd grade YBA division?
Bennet

Varsity Black May 15-16

Playing only one game on Saturday, the varsity black team beat the Irish 60-49. Marcus Hendrick had a solid all around game grabbing every lose ball he could get. Colin Lee and Mark Burns also had good games with tremendous defensive effort to get the win. On Sunday, they played E-Time Hoops but unfortunately lost 38-54. Without Remi Barry or Aaron Hendricks, Cody Borst and John Davis stepped up huge kept YBA close in the first half. In their last game, they beat High Intensity 57-34. Aaron started off the game with a couple of three pointers which sparked Eric Gee to hit a few himself. Jose Rodriguez had a good game both offensively and defensively, getting steals and looking for the open man up the floor.

Varsity White

With one game on Saturday for the varsity white team, they beat Jackson All Stars 53-28. During this game, everyone played extremely well looking for the open man, not being selfish, and working together on defense to create more offensive looks. Jordan Broyles was a huge factor in setting the tempo of the game and helping in every way that he could. Austin Hightower helped out a ton in the post both on offense and defense. Starting off at nine on Sunday, they fell to the All Star Predators 27-48. Even though they had some trouble on the offensive end, they worked hard on defense with the help from Garrett Rodriguez and Derek Ainsworth hustling as much as they could. Tony Costa helped put points on the board and gets the open man a good look at the basket. In their next game, they lost to EDH Trojans 51-58. They put up a good fight with a ton of effort and played very well. Quincy Shelby and Colton Nelson controlled the tempo of the game and got good drives and looks at the basket. Bryson Bryant helped tremendous in the post grabbing the rebounds and getting the put backs.

JV Black

Record 21-2

The 16U Black put their undefeated record on the line this weekend when they stepped up a level and entered the Sacramento Area National Qualifier 17U tournament.

The team made it to Sunday’s finals and a match up with PHPS. The Black team came out strong taking an early lead. They ended the 1st quarter trailing 14-12. The 2nd quarter saw the Dawgs fall behind by 12 points before cutting the halftime lead to 8.

The 3rd period was more of the same as PHPS stretched their lead to 12. The young Dawgs stayed focused and made a nice run in the 4th period cutting the lead to 3 points before running out of gas. PHPS made their free throws down the stretch and held on for a double digit victory.

Playing in the 17U national qualifier was a great opportunity for the Dawgs. They showed great pride and character throughout the weekend and saw all 10 players contribute throughout the tournament.

The Dawgs have a week off before they enter another big challenge when they play in the 17U Rumble in the Bay.

The experience from this weekend should prove vital for the team’s success in the Rumble in the Bay.

JV Blue

The 16u Blue put their undefeated record on the line this weekend when they stepped up a level and entered the Sacramento Area National Qualifier 17U tournament.

The team made it to Sundays finals and a match up with PHPS. The Blue team came out strong taking an early lead. They ended the 1st quarter trailing 14-12. The 2nd quarter saw the Dawgs fall behind by 12
points before cutting the halftime lead to 8.

The 3 rd period was more of the same as PHPS stretched their lead to 12. The young dawgs stayed focused and made a nice run in the 4th period cutting the lead to 3 points before running out of gas. PHPS made their freethrows down the stretch and held on for a double digit victory.

Playing in the 17u national qualifier was a great opportunity for the Dawgs. They showed great pride and character throughout the weekend and saw all 10 players contribute throughout the tournament.

The Dawgs have a week off before they enter another big challenge when they play in the 17u Rumble in the Bay.

The experience from this weekend should prove vital for the teams success in the Rumble in the Bay.

JV Adam

This week we improved to 20-2 for the season with another tournament victory, this time in the Livermore Invitational in the bay area. We won all our games as a team by playing fast, aggressive, & unselfish. We were led in scoring by James, Kyle, David, & Luis. Our rebounding leaders were Andre & David. Leading the way in assists were Darrell, Nolan & Luis. Evan had a huge impact on the last 3 games including a step-back, dagger 3 pointer late in the 2nd game to squash a mini run late. Our press looked very good and we were clearly the highest tempo team there, despite the fact that we were not the most athletic team in our division. The average score this weekend was 65-47 including a 30 point Championship game win.


Game 1
YBA 73 Hurricanes 61
Summary: The toughest game of the weekend for us came early, as in our opening game on Saturday. We played a fast, athletic, veteran Tracy Hurricanes squad that did not want to lose. However despite their best efforts, we simply play at a faster speed than they are capable of playing with consistency. Our Defense was led by James with 7 steals and at least 15 deflections, overall the Defense was outstanding as 61 was the lowest point total of the weekend for them. James also led the way with 24 points, many on assists by Darrell who finished with 11. Kyle had a strong game with 17 including 3-5 behind the arc.

Defensive MVP: The whole team for committing to going 100% in our press
MVP: Big Game James

Game 2
YBA 64 Manteca 57
Summary: An absolute showcase of the momentum of the game of basketball. We started the game on a 10-0 run, led 19-4 and then endured a 19-5 run on us that brought it to 25-23 with 5 minutes left in the half. However a quick 6-0 run ended that stretch and put us in control and gave us momentum going into the half. Amazingly that is the closest we came to trailing all weekend! The game was a complete team effort as all 8 players contributed throughout the game, although none was bigger than Evan setting the pace within that 10- 0 start with 3 rebounds and 5 points.

Defensive MVP: Andre for his 13 rebounds
Team spirit: Luis

Game 3
YBA 48 Tracy 26
Summary: In a 9 AM yawner we came out flat and had to be woken up to get it going w/ a 12-4 run to give us the energy we needed. It was a game that was never in question as the other team was all freshmen. We played to prepare for the championship game which I think we did. Nolan, Luis, Kyle and David all had good games.

Defensive MVP: the 5 players on floor during the 25 second 10-0 run when they never got out of their back-court

Championship Game:
YBA 76 Hurricanes 44
Summary: Our best team game to date, everyone contributed and we rolled in a game that was over in the 1st 5 minutes. I couldn't have been more impressed with our effort and intensity level. Our intensity was fueled by Andre's grown man play down low and his 5(!) Steals (not bad for a 6'4 230 lb young man). He fired us up with his aggression and he yelled "Let's Go" and flexed coming to the sideline for a time out and scared at least ten people out of the gym! David was big with 15 points and aggressive full court Defense. Nolan had his best game of the season with great decision making, 2 big early 3s and a quality commitment to playing Defense. Luis had another big game playing well in all facets of the game. Kyle was lights out and was always in front of his man. Evan was in foul trouble but was by far the best half-court team defender when we was on the floor as he communicated excellently and battled two solid bigs to a stand still as they were non factors throughout, he also had the most box-outs (a stat that should be kept). Darrel was big as he almost had a double double with 9 points and 8 assists and his usual stat sheet stuffing. James was in his man's hip pocket all game and took command when we needed a bucket. I couldn't of been more pleased and gave my team their 1st day off all year, which is the 3rd day off I've given in 11 years of coaching. So they obviously earned it.

Defensive MVP: Evan
Tournament MVP: Andre, Darrell, David, Evan, James, Kyle, Luis, Nolan


Coach's Final Thoughts...
A weekend to remember as I got pistol whipped by Nolan during Lazer Tag, learned who snores, almost crashed twice in all YBA pile ups during Go Karts that left Evan backwards, and Darrell sideways before him (pretty interesting/scary since they both have licenses), and learned that we are a force to be reckoned with when we put the team ahead of our egos... I see progress every game and with all players. We are finally figuring out what I keep yelling about, that when we are 9 strong committed to winning and selfless we are unstoppable...

"Competitive Greatness: Being at your best when your best is required" whose quote is this? If my team knew who it was they would understand my madness I mean methods... Again 1st 3 players that answer will be glad. Till next week

Coach Adam

9th Grade Shaw/Driggs

Game 1 YBA 47 Central Coast 25
The team played well both on offense and defense. Matt Gruber led the way with 14 pts. The defense was led by Caspian Hamrick. Anthony Pederson also contributed on the offensive side.

Game 2 Predators 65 YBA 43
This was the best team we faced all season. Very quick and physical. Offensively the Dawgs were led by Caspian Hamrick and Dom Driggs.

Game 3 YBA 48 E-Time 46
This was the best game of the tournament. Our play was intense and aggressive. Matt Gruber had a double double with 17 pts. and 11 rebounds. Caspian contributed with 13 pts. This game would not have been won without great offensive and defensive contributions from the entire team.

Outstanding tournament for Matt and Caspian.


Byron Kaim

9th Grade Garcia

Game #1 Phenoms 33 YBA Garcia 24

Our first game Saturday morning was against the Phenoms. It was a low scoring game. We got off to a slow start and were down 10-3 at the end of the first quarter. The boys played hard, but could not close the gap in the score and we lost 33-24. Taylor Cherry was the scoring leader with 15 points and Jay Bennett and Spencer Gregg each had 5 rebounds.

Game #2 Sutter Dawgs 31 YBA Garcia 41
We played the Sutter Dawgs in our second game Saturday. We had a rough first quarter and were down 13-7. Our defense intensity picked up in the second quarter and our shots started to fall. The Sutter Dawgs scored 0 points in the second quarter. We were ahead 13-21 at the half. Our team had a strong second half and we won 31-41. Taylor Cherry led our scoring attack with 15 and Jeffrey Day (JR) had 8 rebounds.

Game #3 EDH Trojans 27 YBA Garcia 26
Our last game was against the EDH Trojans. This was a defensive battle and a low scoring game. We struggled at the free throw line hitting only 8 of 21. The entire game was back and forth, but we lost by 1 point. Cody Moffitt led us in scoring with 8 points and added 7 rebounds and Jeffrey Day (JR) also had 7 rebounds.

8th Grade Blue

After "sleep walking" through our 9am game on Saturday and losing a game we should have won, the 8th grade Blue team recovered nicely with 2 strong wins. After beating the big and athletic Manteca Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, the guys rolled out of bed early Sunday morning for an 8am showdown with rival Del Oro. An exceptional full team effort on defense led to a great 5 point win to finish the weekend 2-1. Blake Abercrombie and Nick Howe did a great job defending former Dawg, Danny Becker, to key the victory on Sunday.



Kennan Bridge

8th Grade White

YBA 8th Grade White Team stormed through this past weekend’s games, going 3-0 and winning by a combined total of 164-85. In their first game against the Eski Cougars, the team played a stifling defense, holding their opponent to 1 first quarter point and just 9 for the game. The team registered an incredible 19 steals, led by Kevin Whalen’s 6 thefts. Luke Jordan led scorers with 12 points fueled by 3 three pointers while Justin Holmes had racked up 9 points and 11 rebounds. The final score was 47-9 YBA.


The Dawgs faced the Davis Wildcats in their second game of the weekend. Once again, the Dawgs started quickly, jumping out to an 18-8 first quarter lead. They pushed it out to 40-15 at half with Will Greenwood hitting a 25 footer at the buzzer. They continued the pace in the third quarter, expanding their lead to 32 with Shayne Baynes hitting another basket as time expired for the quarter. Davis got hot in the fourth quarter but the Dawgs won comfortably 62-39. Top scorers were Shayne and Will with 12 each and Austin Marcus with 11 points. Justin Holmes and Grant McElvain ruled the glass with 7 and 6 rebounds respectively.

The final game of the weekend saw the Dawgs matched up with Team Sage “Foster.” A loud, boisterous crowd for both teams saw the Dawgs take a 9 point halftime lead. Sage gave the Dawgs a good test as the Dawg lead was 10 at the end of the third. The Dawgs put it away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Sage 16-8 to win by a final score of 55-37. Justin Holmes had a MONSTROUS game, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals. Joe Henry had an excellent game as well, scoring 8 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, getting 3 steals and one block. For the 3 games, “Big Joe” totaled 6 blocked shots. Luke Jordan added 11 points while Grant McElvain had four blocked shots against Sage.

Justin Kinney had an outstanding weekend as the team’s point guard, racking up assist after assist and getting the Dawgs into their offense. He also totaled 6 steals over the weekend. Joe Clark showed himself well in adapting to play the wing since the added height of the Dawg roster allows him to play a smaller position on the floor. Coach Ken Gee said after the weekend sweep, “The team gets better and better every week! Chemistry and teamwork is at an all time high!”


Mark Greenwood

7th Grade Blue

Both 7th grade teams played a higher level of competition this week, with the blue team entering 8th grade D2/D3 and the white team playing 7th grade D1. Each team went 2-1. White took 2nd place, and blue earned 3rd place.

The blue team lost a nail-biter in their first game, falling 47-46 against Del Oro Jr. Eagles Gold. It was a close, hard-fought battle throughout with neither team able to seize the advantage. Gavin Smith hit two clutch free throws late in the game to give YBA a one-point lead, but Del Oro went inside to their big man who came through with the game-winning basket with 5 seconds to play. Mike Beachley led the way with 15 points. Connor Milnes and Jackson Sterling chipped in with 6 points each, while Max O’Rourke added 5 including a key shot late that kept the Dawgs close. Nicholas Clough frequently penetrated the Eagle defense for 5 assists.

The second game was all YBA in a 56-27 victory over Davis Wildcats White. Our ball pressure ruled the day, with Nick once again harassing the opposing point guards into many mistakes and picking them clean for 6 steals. Garrett Kauppila also applied a lot of pressure on the point. A hot-shooting Grady Collins keyed the offensive outburst with 17 points, aided by Gavin with 11 and Mike and Nick with 9 apiece. Mitchell Holt gathered 9 rebounds and altered several shots.

YBA kept up the defense in the 3rd place game, beating Xtreme Hoops 54-19. Xtreme’s guards were subjected to the feared 1-3-1 Bull defense driven once again by Nick and Jackson, who combined for 7 steals and forced many errant passes. The whole team is really coming together in this area by playing with a lot of intensity and aggression and helping each other better. Jackson dominated the boards with 11 caroms. Grady stayed hot with 15 points, while Nick went for 13 points and 9 assists and Gavin added 10 points.

The team continues to move the ball very well in the open court and does a great job of finding the open man. If not for a lot of missed short shots in the first game, we would have played for the championship. Coach Shaw told the team it was a good weekend!

Defensive MVP: The entire team
Offensive co-MVPs: Grady (35 points), Mike (29 points), and Nick (26 points, 18 assists)

7th Grade White

It was a birds and the bees weekend as the Dawgs took on the Redbirds, Eagles, and Yellow Jackets in the Tahoe Qualifier.

In the first game against the Redbirds, the Dawgs started off slow and found themselves looking up at the Redbirds flying high on the scoreboard. The human microwave Jared Flowers came in and heated up the scoreboard to get the Dawgs back into the game. Some strong defense and rebounding by Connor Milnes and key baskets by Colin McHale helped preserve the lead for a 43-40 win.

In the second game of the day, the Dawgs targeted the Eagles from the opening tip. Jaeden Calton, Max O'Rourke and Zac Chodes all hit the bulls eye as the Dawgs plucked the Eagles 53-29.

After learning about the birds it was time to see if we could swat the bees in the championship game. The Dawgs battled the Yellow Jackets in a very physical, fast-paced game. Colin Hawkins led the team in scoring, and Vance Gregg played some scrappy defense to bring the Dawgs within striking distance at the end of the game. Time ran out as the Yellow Jackets were able to fly off with a 31-28 win.

Overall the kids played great, and we are looking forward to taking this momentum to Reno in two weeks.

6th Grade Blue

Playing in our last tournament before heading to Reno we went two and one in a tough seventh grade division for a third place finish. The team has really come together and Reno should be very exciting. Darren brought his " A" game against the Yellow Jackets. Charlie, Kyle G and Sean played well all day. Sunday was a late game for only having one but the boys came together and got the job done. On Sunday Darren hit his first career THREE POINTER . Teamwork by JR, Kyle T, Wes, Marcus helped with the earned victory. Thanks to Noah for adding depth to the bench and contributing. See you Reno.

6th Grade White

The 6th Grade White team provided lots of excitement this weekend as they played the Manteca Wildcats, the All Star Predators Black team and the Xtreme Hoops team. The team played at Hardwood Palace on Saturday and easily won their first game 46 to 26 against the Wildcats. Elijah Winters was the top scorer with 8 points, with plenty of scoring by the whole team. Dom Pericin, Jack Kearns and Logan Echeveria also contributing with 7 points each. On Sunday the team played at Center High School and first faced a very tough All Star Predators Black team. A slow start and turn overs hurt the team as the Predators took advantage of the miscues and ultimately beat the team 52-34. Don't let the final score fool you into thinking it wasn't competitive as the team stayed within a few baskets until the very end of the game. Ask any parent who was there- there were a lot of hoarse voices. Great defense turned things around for the final game as the team beat the Xtreme Hoops team, 44-37. Logan Echeveria had a spectacular game with non stop contributions on both offense and defense. Jack took an amazing charge, rousing the crowd into a wild uproar. There is never a shortage of fan support for this team!


That's the main character of this team, they have heart. They never give up and they always have fun. All of these players have two things in common. They all love playing YBA basketball and they all enjoy the team camaraderie. This weekends tournament prepared the team well for the Reno Tournament by allowing the coaches and players to play the full spectrum of competitive levels. The bad news is the seasons is almost over, but the good news is this team has started to peak and the Reno Tournament is just two weeks away. Go 6th Grade White!!!!!!!

5th Blue

First Game vs. Rocktown Ballers(Blue Team)

Score: YBA 50 Rocktown 25
Facing a "cross town nemisis", the boys were ready to play. Ahead from the opening tip off, the boys played hard, tough defense and were able to put the Ballers away. With great games from Jashon Lewis (12 points, 6-8 shooting) and Alex Martinez (9 points, 10 rebounds) the team never took their foot off the gas. Alex Schneider shot 50% from the field and had 8 points,and the team had great help from both Jake Hernandez and Ethan Wainwright.

Second game vs. East Bay Legacy
Score: YBA 59 East Bay 52
This game was against a new team from the Bay Area (Oakland area), and were a mixture of 4th & 5th graders. Strong guard play, and early foul trouble by the DAWGS (both 4th graders) put the Legacy up 14-4 after the first quarter. The DAWGS were slow to get started and quickly found themselves in a hole. Down by as many as 12 in the first half, the DAWGS dug deep for some momentum. They found it in the second quarter by playing tough defense and rebounded the ball very well. Joshua Ohara hit a key three pointer with under a minute left in the half, and brought the DAWGS within six points. After some full court pressure, and a tipped pass by Blake Pifer, Joshua found himself with a steal. Dribbling to the same spot he just hit a three from, Joshua stepped up and hit another three with four seconds left, and put the DAWGS within three. After that momentum shift, the DAWGS played hard and hit key free throws in the closing seconds to clinch the game. Player of the game was Jashon Lewis (11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals), who played his heart out and led by example. Once the team "followed", they never looked back. "Mr. Clutch" of the game was Joshua Ohara (17 points, 3-3pointers), hitting the two three pointers at the end of the first half, and hitting free throws in the closing seconds to put the game on ice. "The Thief" title goes to Alex Martinez with eight steals, and the "Mr. Intangible" goes to Alex Schneider for doing the things that don't show up on a stat sheet. Bryson Zorich also had a solid game running the point and keeping the team composed. The team earned every bit of this win, over a very good, gritty East Bay team.

Championship Game vs. Spirt Got Game
Score: YBA 45 Spirit Got Game 49

The DAWGS played their hearts out in this game. Leading the entire way (by as much as 14 points), against a very skilled and quick SGG team, the DAWGS showed they can play with the best of them. The team had great ball movement, blocked out well, and hustled on every play. In the end, unfortuantely, it wasn't enough. The coach said "The boys have nothing to hang their heads for, we fought the whole game, and that's all I can ask for". Alex Martinez was the stat leader with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Bryson Zorich controlled the tempo and the team like a true leader, and Joshua Ohara showed his sharpshooting skills with 4 three pointers. The Mr. Hustle award goes to Jashon Lewis, who was all over the floor and did everything that didn't show up on the stat sheet.

5th White

This weekend the YBA White team went 0-3 but that was not indicative of the effort the boys gave. Being down with injuries we battled most of the games with 5 original players and one new player.


The first game was against Cal Reign and we got off to a very slow start, and never really got going till the last 4 minutes of the game. We lost by a few. The second game the boys played against a very aggressive Spirit Got Game. We led by a few in the first quarter and then lost our steam by the third quarter and lost by a few. All the six players played as hard as I have ever seem them play. I was proud on how the six of them took on a squad of 12.

The last game was the best of the three. We played our home town rivals Rocktown to lose by a few. The stand out player of the game was Blake Stelzer with lots of points and assists. Top rebounder of the first game was our new player Kazik Lewandowski. We were helped by Nick Ohler’s 3’s and Everett Libolt's defense and offense. Jeremy Lillis had his share of low post put ins and many shot blocks. Brendyn Ikeda added 10 points in the second game. Grant Harrison played bravely with two stitches and a splint on his left hand in the first game. Every one of the boys gave effort.

4th Grade

The YBA 4th grade team had an interesting weekend resulting in a 3-0 record and walking off the floor Sunday as Champions of their tournament. It started Saturday by playing Eldorado Hills in a very uneventful game. We have played them before and knew we were a much better team, but we don't ever take a team for granted. Our boys didn't and we won 49-8. It was a very balanced attack as all boys were equal contributors and everyone scored between 4 to 10 points. The emphasis was I don't care if we are down by 20 or up by 20, we play defense the same. We pulled back the offense and did not allow any fast breaks, but I was proud of the intensity and effort put forth.


Game 2 was against Spirit Got Game and we were really looking forward to this one. I have only seen their 5th grade and older teams play, but know they are a very good program and our boys were fired up to play them. We were disappointed to find the team they put on the floor was mostly 2nd and 3rd graders. Much like the first game we won 52-12 and our boys played outstanding defense and again all boys scored between 4 to 10 points apiece. Quite honestly we would rather had 2 tough games and maybe lost than to win games by 40 points. We wanted the challenge, but had not found it...yet...

Sunday afternoon the games were running behind and our boys were restless to play. We faced the Predators for the championship and saw that they beat Xtreme Hoops by 39 on Saturday. It can be difficult to win two games by 40, then play a really solid, intense and aggressive team the next day. We have never faced or seen this Predator team before and they were exactly what we thought they would be. It was intense from the tip-off and we were down 8-4 after the 1st quarter. Some of the boys were getting down, but we stayed focused and worked hard matching their intensity. At half the game was 10-9 them. This was a defensive battle, but it really was not sloppy, it was just two very good defensive teams going hard at each other. We were not as aggressive on the offensive side and some of the guys were not shooting when they had good looks, but we learned a lot about ourselves in this game. At the end of the 3rd quarter it was tied 17-17 and it was clear this was going to come down to the wire. The 4th quarter was again back and forth until we took a 5 point lead down the stretch. Carson March was clutch down the stretch as he ended up making 3 free throws in the 4th and made 6 of 8 for the day. The Predators would not go down easily as they pulled within 2 by making a 3 pointer in the last 30 seconds. We had a few fouls to give and mad it difficult for them to get any rhythm for a last shot. With 4 seconds left they inbounded the ball and launched a running 3 pointed that clanked off the back iron at the buzzer and we won 28-26!

This was a great win for our boys before Reno. Our 2 big men, Dawson Fugate and Ryan Smith played really big for us denying the high post feed and shutting down the inside with great defense and rebounding when we needed it. Carson led all scorers with 13 points, but the anchor of our team is defense and Ryan Haug and Justin Kraft led our team with outstanding man-to-man help and recover defense. Every one of our boys played their hearts out and were a big part of this victory.

3rd Grade

Our 3rd grade Dawgs had a successful weekend with a 2-1 record. Our defensive performance this weekend for our team was one of our best so far this season.

In our first game against the Predators, our boys played well and the game was actually closer than what the score reflects. Our Dawgs were pressured half court and fought hard against a strong defensive team to score. Our Dawgs also provided a strong full court press that was very difficult to break. The game was a low scoring game for both teams due to both teams giving 110% . Although we did not win, our Dawgs used the opportunity to learn from their mistakes........

Our second game, we defeated the Rocktown Ballers because our Dawgs remembered their previous game. What more can you ask from a nearly all 8 year old team to bounce back from a loss AND remember to correct their mistakes from the previous game. I am extremely impressed! This is another game in which the score does not really reflect how our boys played. We won by only one point, but our boys proved that our 3rd grade Dawgs were a much stronger team.

Our third game, our Dawgs defeated Spirit Got Game using a huge defensive attack from all sides. Our boys used their basketball experiences to run our offense much better also. In this game, we had some exceptional defensive play by Johnny Guzman, one of our newest players. Johnny was one of our top defenders moving his feet fast to steal pass after pass on the full court press. Josh Mack was on fire with his shooting. Josh was able to hit a three and other outside shots early in the game to help us take a big lead. Josh's "fire" was roaring, even when he was on the bench....I love it!

Overall, our team did very well. Our top scorer was Dante Pericin. Dante consistently does not let up on attacking offensively and is a great leader on the court also. Our top defender was Johnny Guzman using his speed and great hand eye coordination to get the steals. Without a doubt, all of our 3rd grade Dawgs provided a great team effort this weekend and had lots of fun....Then we ate cookies: )