5th Grade White-SAS- May 1st

This past Sat. the 5th grade White team stepped out and played in the SAS one day tournament. It was refreshing to play teams we have never seen before. We were lucky enough to be scheduled to play four games, starting at 9:00 and ending at 4:00. Both Coach Jon and I were proud of the boys on how hard they played to win the tournament. All the players contributed in Defense and Offense, but I would have to say the reason why we won was the effort on the defensive side. Our guards, Brendyn Ikeda, Grant Harrison and Blake Stelzer worked hard on pressing and on help defense. Our big’s, Jeremey lilis, Alex Martinez, Everett Libot and Nick Oehler did a great job in boxing out and controlling the rebounds.


The first game was against the Hurricane, a smaller but fast and tenacious team. We got out to a slow start but ended winning. Nick Oehler did his usual and hit some 3’s to keep us up. Alex Martinez dominated the boards and had many put backs.

The second game was against a larger but slower group, the Lodi Nitro. Grant Harrison beat his men with great ball fakes, jab steps and shot fakes, to penetrate, score and dish. Blake Stelzer , “The Jet” broke loose to beat his men on transition fast breaks. Everett Libolt had played great defense and offense. We controlled the game from start to finish to win the second.

The third game was the most challenging, coming off a lunch on the grass, we were struggling to get our energy up to the other team’s. We faced a determined Davis Wildcats team that had us down ¾ of the game. In the last 6 min. of the game we were down by 10 and Coach Jon had to have one of those get fired up or else speech and it worked. We pressed and got it back one basket at a time and ended up winning by a few. Jeremy Lillis and Alex Martinez helped out with rebounds and put backs. Brendyn, Blake and Grant played great defense to force turnovers at the end and Nick and Everett made some baskets to put us over.

The fourth and last game was a real test since we gave it our all in the third to come back. This team has never played 4 games in one day let alone win every one. This day the YBA 5th grade white team did it!

What made Jon and I so proud was that they finished harder than they started. We played the Whitney Wildcats and won handily. All of the boys shared in the dominant defense. Brendyn Ikeda lead with 10 steals, Blake Stelzer following with 5 steals, and Everett Libolt forcing as many turnovers. Alex Martinez continued to dominate on the boards. Offensively all contributed with Brendyn Ikeda leading the team with 16 points. Brendyn had his first Double/Double of his career (16 points and 10 steals) Congratulations Brendyn!

In the end it was fun and rewarding. YBA DAWGS 5th grade white, 4-0, SAS May 1st tournament Champions.



Asst. Coach Glen Ikeda


Great Tournament for the boys!  We had great guard contributions.  Brendyn and Blake did an awesome job finishing at the rim.  Grant made some great passes and had a couple nice moves.  Nick lead the way scoring.  He was the leading scorer in each game.  Everett played physical and tough.  Jeremy grabbed a ton of rebounds and hit multiple jump shots.  Alex Martinez was a force.  He hit key free throws in a couple games.  The boys keep getting better.  Go Dawgs!

Head Coach, Jon Ward