May 21, 2010 "YBA is Dawg-Gone Proud" by Kevin McCarthy

(This article is also accessible to NorCalPreps subscribers at NorCalPreps.com.)


Program Director Ken Gee’s Youth Basketball Academy (YBA) Dawgs began in 2004 when players in the Rocklin area and the surrounding territory needed a club team situation to further their basketball dreams. Has it been successful? Try 17 teams of various ages and around 160 youngsters ‘Dawg-in’ it today. For some easily-recognizable YBA-ers, try James Moore, Josh Ritchart, Brad Waldow, Derek Knutty, Jackson Cummings, Zach Nelson and others.

Jamal Ford, Sacred Heart Cathedral

How did Gee get into the field? "I started coaching basketball out of high school," Gee explained. "But then I had to get a job and went to work for UPS. Once my son got old enough, I returned with YBA."

But Gee gladly shares his success. Among those he credits is the coach of his YBA Black team, Millard "Doc" Haynes, a longtime coach and trainer in the Sacramento area. A much-lauded four-year starter at Dunbar High (Fort Worth, TX) and a five-time most valuable player with the NAC Hellcats in the U.S. Navy, Haynes brings personal experience to the table. "Doc is very motivational and inspirational and I wanted him working with our kids," Gee explained’

Here’s the top YBA squad for this spring and summer, with descriptions supplied by Gee:

■Remi Barry, 6-foot-7, Del Oro High, 2010 -- He is being recruited by DI schools, is exceptionally athletic and very good at attacking the basket plus has a great outside shot.

■Aaron Hendricks, 6-foot-1, Del Oro High, 2011 -- Aaron is athletically gifted and an excellent shooter.

■Spencer Butterfield, 6-foot-3, Del Oro High, 2010 -- he is currently sidelined with a concussion but he provides great leadership and attacks the basket well.

■Colin Lee, 6-foot-4, Nevada Union High, 2011 -- Colin is a good up-and-comer with a solid all around game.

■Jamal Ford, 6-foot-3, Sacred Heart, 2010 -- Jamal is a versatile and athletic player.

■Jose Rodriguez, 6-foot-2, Pleasant Grove High, 2011 -- He is a hard-nosed athletic player.

■Eric Gee, 6-foot-1, Whitney High 2010 -- Is smart and possesses a great feel for the game.

■Cody Borst, 6-foot-2, Whitney High, 2010 -- Cody is a good finisher around the basket.

■Jonathan Davis, 6-foot-4, Granite Bay, 2011-- Jonathan displays outstanding fundamentals and plays bigger than he is.

■Marc Burns, 6-foot, Cordova High, 2011-- Marc is a solid point guard.

■Marcus Hendricks, 6-foot-4, Folsom High, 2011-- An aggressive banger who is very coachable

Go to http://www.ybadawgs.com/  for more information on the YBA Dawgs.

1st Annual YBA Coaches Game Blue Team May 23, 2010

A sold out crowd assembled Sunday night at Hardwood Palace for the 1st annual YBA Coach's Game. As the fans found their seats the coach's prepared to turn back the clock(some had to turn it back a lot farther then others) to years past. You could cut the intensity with a knife as the blue team lead by coach Doc squared off against the white team lead by coach Parker.

The first quarter saw the blue team take a 13 point lead. Nate Stevens was raining three's like Nate Archibald and John Ward was doing his best John Stockton impression with his mid range jumper The blue team's legs were feeling good and their lungs were still at full capacity.

In the second quarter someone from the white team bench yelled "Encina" and woke up the sleeping giant. When coach Doc heard that he ducked his head and yelled "Oh no here it comes!" Coach Shaw was bumping the cutter and Coach Lance was all over the court playing intense defense, but the blue team saw their lead evaporate to a tie at half time.

During halftime Coach Doc called to see why Coach Remi was not at the game yet.

The third quarter brought on some very tight hamstrings which slowed down the blue teams offensive push. The blue team went into the 2/3 zone defense lead by coach Driggs, Dubose, Shively, and Williams which stifled the white teams offense. Either that or their legs were as tired as ours. The 3rd quarter ended in a tie.

The fourth quarter was a battle of wills as the coach's went "old school" and turned up the intensity to go for the win. The game went back and forth during the 4th quarter but the blue team did not have enough gas left in the tank to finish the game. The white team walked away with the much coveted YBA Coach's Trophy.

Blue Team Roster:
Coach Doc

Randy Gregg
Nate Stevens
John Ward
Lance Ohara
Mike Shaw
Dustin Driggs
Anthony Dubose
Deloe Shively
Geoff Williams

1st Annual YBA Coaches Game-White Team May 23, 2010

In a clash of two championship teams the battle of who is the best and who gets bragging rights for a year!  YBA white wins a tough hard fought game over a very competitive and balanced team Blue. Final score: 47-42.

1st half we started slow and got down 13 early...Dave Garcia and Pat Boyle put the white team on the back to go on a 21-6 run to close out the half up 3 with a buzzer beater 3 point shot by Dave Garcia.

The second half seemed to be a defensive battle with some clamp down defense and a late steal by David Garcia sealed the victory. Dave Garcia walked away with the MVP and continues to haunt coach Doc as he put up 47 on coach Doc when he coached at Encina High School about 7 years ago.

White team roster:

Coach Kevin Parker

Ken Gee

Keith Moss

Dave Garcia

Adam Almujdidi

Robert Martenez

Tom Tran

Kevin Collins

Pat Boyle

Clay Evans

We will not have our weekly questionnaire until after Reno.  Good luck to all the YBA Teams this weekend.  See you there!!  Go Dawgs!

Winner and Answers for Questionnaire #4

Congratulations to last week's winner, Sandy Bell representing the JV Black Team! See Ken for your $20 Starbucks card...

1) Name the 3 teams that the 4th grade team played.
EDH, Spirit Got Game, Predators
2) Name the leading scorer in the game against the Phenoms from Garcia's 9th grade team.
Taylor Cherry
3) Who did the JV Blue team play in their 1st game and who was named MVP in that game?
Tracy Hurricanes.  MVP-James
4) Name the players who the 5th grade blue coach named, "Mr. Intangible", "Mr. Clutch", and "Mr. Hustle".
Mr. Intangible:  Alex Schneider
Mr. Clutch:  Joshua Ohara
Mr. Hustle:  Jashon Lewis
5) Name the player who was the "top scorer" in the 3rd grade division
Dante Pericin

Varsity White-May 22-23

The YBA varsity white team was in a tournament this past weekend at hardwood and took third. In their one and only game Saturday, the team coasted to victory in a 69-15 win over the SVBA Knights. Everyone shared the ball extremely well and they all had solid games both on offense and defense. On Sunday they played Team sage and in an intense overtime situation, they came up short 66-60. There was tremendous effort by all the players. Quincy Shelby had a great game making the game continue to overtime. Bryson Bryant hit shots that were needed while Colton nelson and Derek Ainsworth had good defense. For their final game, they beat the South Sac Raiderz 47-42 to take third. With only 6 players for this game, everyone stepped it up tremendously. Jordan Broyles hand a great game on both ends of the court. Austin Hightower was solid in the post while Derek Ainsworth, Colton Nelson, and Quincy Shelby controlled the tempo of the game after a rough start at the beginning of the game. All in all this was good weekend and everyone played outstanding.

JV Blue

This weekend we played in Rocklin in the Hardwood palace tournament in the 16U A division. It was a hard fought weekend for us that saw us lose one and win two to bring our record for the year to 22-3. We played hard throughout and earned both wins. We struggled with turnovers throughout the weekend and it was our inability to keep the ball that cost us the game we lost. However that was our first game Saturday at 9 AM and we have struggled in the past with 9 AM games, having earned both of our losses in 9 AM games coming in.
DEFENSIVE MVP: Darrell

YBA 55 RED RAIDERS 63
SUMMARY: In a rematch of a 2point buzzer beating thriller we came out strong with a 24-15 lead that was paced by a Reggie Miller like 6 points in the last 6 seconds of the quarter on a 3pt fg by Ceron (welcome back!) and a steal and another 3 @ the buzzer by David. Unfortunately, it seemed like we decided we had it won after that and never put forth the intensity to actually win. They bounced back strong in the second quarter outscoring us 17-4 in the quarter to take a 32-28 lead into the half. After halftime we played better but never regained the momentum we had. We struggled with silly turnovers and unfinished fast breaks and also struggled shooting. We played a strong team game with everyone except one player scoring and James and David both had 4 steals, while Darrell again paced us in assists with 5, with James and Nolan each having 3 assists. It was a lesson learned.

YBA 56 E-TIME 50
SUMMARY: In a much better effort we led with defense and won a game that we felt we had to win. After a sluggish 9-1 start that looked like the end of the first game the bench came in and provided a spark led by David & Ceron whose intensity and effort on the defensive end payed off as we battled back to trail 13-12 after one quarter. After that we settled into our game and executed well enough to control throughout. The main reason it was as close as the final score is a rash of missed free throws at the end of the game. It was another complete team effort as all players contributed with at least 1 point. We were led in scoring by James who had 14, David had 7 rebounds to go with his 8 points. Darrell had a strong game with 8 points, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Kyle hit 2 3ptrs, while Luis & Evan had a 3ptr each. Again we struggled with turnovers commiting 18 for the game.
Defensive MVP: Ceron for playing 100% effort defense every second he played
Mr. All-Around: James 14 pts, 3 rebs, 2 assts, 2 steals.

YBA 43 BELIEVERS 36
SUMMARY: In a well played strong Defensive game we hung in and finished against a Believers squad that was well coached and fought for every point with only 5 players all game. With an intelligent slow the pace gameplan we were forced to play halfcourt Defense against a motion offense for up to 30 seconds a possesion before they got a shot attempt they liked. We played aggressively throughout and still forced them to make mistakes despite the fact that we played in their comfort zone (halfcourt offense) most of the game. We won with timely rebounds and by only turning over the ball 12 times. Compared to an average of 18.5 turnovers the first two games. David finished with 10 points to lead a balanced attack (DP3 4 pts, Ceron 6, James 8, Nolan 8, Evan 5, Luis 5). However it was the rebounding that showed the tight Defense as we had 5 players with at least 3 rebounds. Leading the way was Evan who had a season high 9 boards. David chipped in with 8 boards. Darrell (DP3) had 5 more assists to lower his season average but stay well above the level that is the average for 16s.
Defensive MVP: Evan for his strong rebounding and help Defense & David for shutting down their big man.
MVP: Entire team for coming together during adversity and finishing

Coaches Finshing Thoughts
We suffered a let down for a 3 1/2 quarter stretch but perservered and won our last two games and that shows strength of character, which is invaluable in life... We should know that we are talented but we absolutely MUST put forth twice the effort to be the team we aspire to be... With the big Reno tournament this weekend you should be expecting to put in 4 hours of HARD WORK because without the work we are only an average team... When we play 9 strong and all play with team spirit and no ego we are a force to be reckoned with... Arrive at practice with an enthusiasim unknown to man and push yourselves through the wall... then do it again this weekend, if we do these things we will have had a successful season no matter what our record is...

8th Grade White

In the final tourney before Reno, the YBA 8th White squad won one and lost two games. They started the weekend against the Union City Raptors. The Dawgs fell behind 12-5 in the first quarter and worked hard through the game to slowly pull to even late in the game. However, the Raptors managed a wild basket as time ran out to win 41-39. Justin Holmes had 8 points and 9 rebounds and Shayne Baynes had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals to lead the team.


The Dawgs ran into a solid CRR Black team in their next game. The Dawgs turned the ball over too much and lost 53-28. Scoring was balanced with Luke Jordan leading the team with 6 points on two 3 pointers. Grant McElvaine and Joe Henry each grabbed 6 rebounds for Dawgs.

The weekend ended on a positive note as the Dawgs brushed off a slow start to easily beat the EDH Blue team 43-33. The Dawgs scored just 2 points in the first quarter, but turned up the pace to score 10, 14, and 17 over the remaining quarters. Joe Henry had a strong game, scoring 12 points and gathering 6 rebounds. Luke Jordan had 8 points and Austin Marcus contributed 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals.

"The team played some great competition this weekend" said Coach Ken Gee. “The team continues to build chemistry and gain valuable experience.”


Mark Greenwood

7th Grade Blue

The 7th grade white team took a well-deserved break, while the blue team competed in the 7th grade D1 bracket at SAS. Blue took 1st place with a 3-0 record.


YBA 48, Hurricanes 32
The Dawgs couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in this one, shooting a season-low 30% from the field. They worked hard on the defensive end, generally limiting the Hurricanes to one contested shot per possession while blocking 5 shots. Garrett Kauppila played with his usual high energy level. The team also took good care of the ball with only 8 turnovers against 11 steals. Gavin Smith led the way with 11 points with Nicholas Clough and Jackson Sterling not far behind with 9 and 7, respectively. Mitchell Holt had a solid game down low with 5 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.

YBA 62, ABC Warriors 49
The team was pushed harder in the second game by the Warriors and their cat-quick point guard. After falling behind early, YBA fought back to trail by only 1 at the break despite another frigid shooting performance. The boys finally started to hit some shots in the 3rd quarter and took control of the game. They also did a better job containing penetration and forcing their opponents into difficult shots and passes, totaling 12 blocks for the game! Scott Zabrowski and Colin McHale did a good job running the team against an aggressive defense. Michael Beachley got hot to the tune of 22 points and swatted 7 shots for good measure. Nick contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds.

YBA 55, Blue Collar Preps 23
YBA took it to a skilled but overmatched Blue Collar Preps 6th grade team. The team shared the ball, with no player taking more than 6 shots. Grady Collins led the balanced attack with 10 points, followed by Mitch with 9 and Jared Flowers rebounding from a tough start to record 8. Scott & Jackson had 4 steals each out of the team's total of 17.

Coach Shaw said, "We're getting better". He told the boys they need to increase their effort in Reno, though!

Player of the Tourney: Mitchell Holt (18 points, 23 boards, 7 blocks, 3 steals)

6th Grade Blue

6th grade blue had a break in basketball this weekend to rest up for Reno! We did manage to get in our year end team party. SPECIAL THANK YOU to RIAR FARM for hosting a wonderful event. Thank you to our wonderful coaches, players, families and friends that have supported us this year! We will see you in RENO!

5th Grade Blue

Playing in our last tournament before Reno, the team wanted to come out strong.

First game: YBA 45 - Chico 23
The team came out flat this game, though managed to win the game. A strong effort on defense was the key. The team racked up 24 steals (5 by Alex Martinez, 4 a piece by Jashon Lewis and Bryson Zorich) and shut down the opposing team to come away with the win. Alex Martinez cleard the glass with 14 rebounds. Scoring was very balanced with Blake Pifer leading the way with 10 points (with 3 3pointers).

Second game: YBA 54 EDH 28
The team got to play at their "home court" (Hardwood) for the first time in a couple of weeks, and took full advantage of the place they call "home". With all around team play, the DAWGS were led by Joshua Ohara's hot shooting hand (17 points, 6-10 shooting, 3 3pointers), and Bryson Zorich's 8 assists. The "Thief of the Game" was Alex Martinez, who came up huge with 9 steals.

Championship Game: YBA 63 NorCal Thunder 47
Playing for the first time on the "Big Stage" (Court 1), the team played slightly timid in the first half. Turning up the defense in the second half, the DAWGS pulled away to take home the hardwood going into the Reno tournament. Jashon Lewis played a balanced game with 17 points, 7 assists and 7 steals. Ethan Wainwright played outstanding with 8 points, pulling down some key rebounds (7 boards), and Joshua Ohara led all scorers with 19 points on 7-11 shooting, with 3 3pointers. Dishing out the assists was Bryson Zorich with 7, with Alex Schneider and Blake Pifer also contributing big time to the win.

The "sharp shooter" award goes to Joshua Ohara who shot 50% for the tournament, hitting a total of 6 three pointers. The "Game Changer" award goes to Jashon Lewis who always comes up big for our team. And the "Most Outstanding" award goes to the entire team, as they demonstrated great teamwork and hustled the whole tournament.

Next up...Reno!

5th Grade White

The Team had a good weekend.  We went 2 and 1 with us losing the Championship game by 2.



Coach Glen

3rd Grade

Our 3rd grade Dawgs began this weekend's tournament strong with an aggressive win against the 4th grade Rocktown Ballers on Saturday. Our boys gave another great effort on the full court and half court press. Our boys aggressively hit the boards and outrebounded their opponents and never looked back. Once we gained the lead every Dawg kept good composure while dribbling, passing, and running their offense....a huge team effort! All of our boys did very well.

Sunday, our boys played strong in our second game against a very tall, aggressive, and fast 4th grade Red Raider team. Even though our Dawgs were outrebounded in this game, our team held strong for the first three periods. Although we had defeated the Red Raiders once before 50-33, our boys fell just a few points short in this game in a small court 8. During the fourth period, our team gave it their best shot, but were outscored by the Red Raider's in the last period. I could see it in our Dawgs' faces that our Dawgs were moving fast, working hard, and giving their best shot to try to defeat the 4th grade Red Raiders again....but to no avail this time. Our team and coaches have no regrets.

Our second game on Sunday, we played the 4th grade EDH team. I watched EDH play the Red Raiders on the same day and knew that we would have our hands full when the EDH lost to Red Raiders in the last few seconds of that game. Once again, our Dawgs played three strong periods, but fell just a little short again in the last period due to just one too many turnovers to a fast and hard pressing EDH team on the small court 8. Our 3rd grade Dawgs had already defeated the 4th grade EDH once before so our coaches know that our Dawgs are very strong competitors.

Although our record was 1-2 this weekend, we are still very proud of our BIG little Dawgs. If you have not seen our 3rd grade Dawgs play before, you would be surprised how hard they work for such a young team and how well they all play. I would encourage you to take the time to watch them. I'm impressed by their perseverance over the weekend against all three teams. We had some periods where our Dawgs struggled in some areas, but the challenge was worth the time to help our Dawgs improve.


Coach Martinez