4th Grade-March 19th-20th

After blowing out the teams last week in a HWP (the worst by 61 points), our boys went into this weekend with their confidence level high. It was hard to contain our Dawgs' desire for strong contenders after last week and I looked forward to our first challenge.......the T.B.F. Long Beach.


T.B.F Long Beach really did travel 7 hours from Long Beach....and it seemed just to play the Dawgs! I knew nothing about this team, but Long Beach proved to be a strong contender that we really enjoyed playing. Long Beach met my Dawgs need for a strong challenge both offensively and defensively. Long Beach had a tenacious defense and relentless offense that my boys handled very well by responding with the same tenacious defense and offense.........right back at you kind of game! This game was close and very suspenseful from the beginning to the end. Our Dawgs continued to give a strong effort both offensively and defensively that Long Beach did not seem to expect from the Northern California team that they traveled so far to play. The challenge that both teams gave each other earned respect from player to player while they were on the court. If Long Beach pressed hard and caused a turnover, our Dawgs pressed hard and caused a turnover. If Long Beach worked hard for a good shot and was successful, our Dawgs did the same.....and, our Dawgs did an outstanding job as a team. I couldn't ask for a better play from our Dawgs. Although both teams were matched evenly, our Dawgs were down 3 points toward the end of the game forcing us to foul to stop the clock. Long Beach met the challenge well and made their free throws causing the Dawgs to lose 43-35. I can't wait for the next time......

Our second game was against Carson Valley. Our Dawgs press was just too much for Carson causing a 25 point lead early in the 1st period. Eventually, I challenged our Dawgs by asking them to not press and pass the ball 5 times before shooting. Our Dawgs met that challenge easily. The next challenge, our Dawgs were not able to dribble after passing the half court and had to pass only to get a shot only in the paint. Our Dawgs did an excellent job passing, moving to get open, and taking good shots in the paint. We defeated Carson 56-7.

Our third and last game, we played a much faster 916 Select team. A team that matched well with our boys.......fast a furious. Our Dawgs did a great job in most areas, but lacked a little concentration in their passing during this game. Due to our turnovers, this game seemed to be a little closer than I anticipated. In the last few seconds of the game, our Dawgs were up by 6 points, but the quick team threw up a last second shot a few feet behind the 3 point line and "busted" it making the game closer than what it actually was. The final score was 39-36, Dawgs.

Coach Martinez