Gilroy
– Two Gilroy National Junior Basketball (NJB) teams made some
noise at the NJB All-Star National Tournament in Anaheim this past
weekend.
Gilroy – Two Gilroy National Junior Basketball (NJB) teams made some noise at the NJB All-Star National Tournament in Anaheim this past weekend.
The 6th grade girls’ team took first place in the top Reebok Division, winning the championship game over Chino Valley by a 31-14 margin. The 6th grade boys, who also competed in the Reebok Division, took sixth place.
Duane Ross, coach of the 6th grade boys’ team, said he was impressed that two Gilroy teams did so well in a tournament that featured teams from all over the Western states.
“It’s unusual to have two teams from one area do so well,” Ross said. “The interesting thing is, it really is just a bunch of neighborhood guys so they did really well for being from a small area.”
Both teams were made up of All-Stars picked from teams in the Gilroy/Morgan Hill NJB league.
But the girls’ team didn’t have a huge pool to choose from – in fact it was downright tiny, making their run to the crown even more impressive.
“It’s kind of neat,” said girls’ head coach Ed Sauceda. “We barely had 10 girls in the whole league. We had nothing to chose from. Most cities had three or four teams to take from. We took our 10 and showed up.
“After about the third game coaching, I realized that these girls are a little bit special.”
And successful. Before going to the tournament, the girls were winning games by 20 to 40 points, Sauceda said.
“At first I thought, maybe there’s no competition in the league,” the coach added.
But at the national tournament against top opponents, no team came within eight points of the girls, who finished the season at 21-1.
The team had some decent soccer players, too. During the basketball season, Sauceda’s daughter Sara, Chelsea Hill and Sarina Sandoval, all from Gilroy, played in a state cup tournament where their Morgan Hill team finished in the top eight.
The boys’ team played some of its best basketball of the season at the national tournament, Ross said.
“They played really good and quickly earned a reputation,” he said. “We played tough defense and are a great passing team. We’re not real big but we played with a lot of discipline.”
Ross said the team played in honor of Lovell Keith “J.R.” Adams, the Gilroy 17-year-old who was killed by a hit–and–run driver in Mexico on March 18, by playing with pride, poise, confidence, team spirit and good sportsmanship, all qualities that Adams displayed on the field as a top Valley Christian football player. Adams’ father K.C. helped coach the team.
