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B10 Weekend of March 14-15, 2020 The Dalles Chronicle TheDallesChronicle.com SPORTS Team Elite wins 4th title, qualifies for state Group unable to participate this weekend due to virus scare Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle fourth championship. This winter, head coach Brian Stevens put his team through several tough tour- naments, six locally and in Portland, including a select National AAU Tournament with teams hailing from New York all the way to the West Coast. On the squad were Derek Goulart, Reese Kenslow, Bringing together a group Deacon Ybarra, Calder Morrison, Hunter Wang, of eight sixth graders and a Andrew Westin, Mason fifth grader from local com- munities such as Hood River, Hamilton, David Chavez, and White Salmon, Mosier, North Oliver Stevens. “The boys were already Bonneville and The Dalles, good individual players with The Gorge Elite Basketball a solid skillset,” coach Stevens team captured its fourth said. “My job was to get them tournament championship to learn how to play with other last weekend in Hood River talent, execute team basket- and qualified for the 500- team state tournament this ball, communicate, help each weekend in Spokane, Wash., other, and to play selflessly but action was halted due to and for one another.” the Coronavirus scare. Team Elite won its second At the Columbia Gorge tournament on Jan. 12, by Classic held on Mar. 7-8 in defeating Hood River at the Hood River, Team Elite had Gorge Hoops Invitational five of eight players recover- and then captured a second ing from illness and went 0-2 straight CGBA Tournament in Saturday’s pool play round. title, The Dalles Winter Classic, their third of the win- On Sunday, however, they got their legs back and ter, on Feb. 23 at Kurtz Gym, a dropped the Wild Boyz, 63-21 win over Hermiston. 76-61, in the semifinals and On Dec. 15, Stevens’ defeated Triple Threat, 48-35, group won a 46-43 overtime in the finals to secure their thriller versus Team Progress to pick up top honors at the HoopSource Portland/ Vancouver Tournament. “As we developed their IQ and basketball acumen, the wins started coming,” coach Stevens said. “I watched them come together faster than ex- pected. Every tournament, we had different lineups and guys giving up minutes in favor of matchups.” Coach Stevens gave thanks to the players, and his assistants, Danny Ybarra and Randy Goulart, and saluted the parents, Brooke Elizabeth, Trenton Hamilton, Scott Wang, Angie Wang, Holly Andersen- Westin, Monica, Yolanda Castellanos, Becky Hamilton, Tiffany Kenslow and Analene Pentopoulos for their unre- lenting support through the 2019-2020 campaign. “I want to thank Danny for helping me with advice and enhancements, and to Randy Goulart, for helping me with all things basketball-related. Thank you to for all of your support,” Stevens said. “And the parents. I cannot thank you enough for entrusting me with helping take your kids to the next level. I am looking forward to our spring season.” Team Elite will be back on the court starting in April. Team Elite ended the winter hoops season with their fourth tournament title at the Columbia Gorge Classic held on Mar. 7-8 in Hood River. In the photo are, from left to right, starting in the back row, Danny Ybarra (assistant coach), Hunter Wang, Andrew Westin, Calder Morrison, Mason Hamilton, David Chavez, and Brian Stevens (head coach). In the front row are, from left, Derek Goulart, Reese Kenslow, Oliver Stevens, Deacon Ybarra, and future baller Austin Hamilton. Contributed photo Splash Brothers climb to the top Third grade boys take first in third grade division of CG Classic Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle layup and a foul shot. Alsup sank the free throw to give his squad a two-point lead with six seconds left. OBC could not get the ball down the court for a tying or winning shot, so the Splash Brothers hung on for the 33-31 win to move into Sunday’s semifinals. Head coach Jesse Alsup In that matchup, top-seed- had his third grade boys basketball team called the ed TSB hit the court against Splash Brothers hitting on OBC once again and they cylinders last week, as they went on to secure a 38-19 cruised to a perfect 4-0 triumph to advance to the record to grab first place at championship against Hood the season-ending Columbia River. Gorge Classic Tournament TSB played a tough defen- put on by Flames Basketball sive game in the final and last Sunday in Hood River. held small leads throughout After a lopsided open- action. Hood River made a late charge, however, and The ing-round win versus The Warriors, the Splash Brothers Splash Brothers did not wilt engaged in a gritty battle with under the defensive pressure Oregon Basketball Club, who and locked down a 33-27 win, despite being out-sized and pushed TSB to play one of its best games. It was a close having a shortened bench. “As a coach, I couldn’t be scoring game in both halves, more proud of these boys until OBC broke away in the for their work ethic and last two minutes to gain a dedication to the game of one-point lead with six sec- basketball,” coach Alsup said. onds left in regulation. “I believe they had decided OBC looked to be in that they were going to make control with the ball and time running out, but Splash a statement and they put out everything they had to end Brother player Diego Abriz the year with a champion- stole an inbounds pass and made the downcourt pass ship. Their play in the CGC to a teammate Levi Alsup, tournament was exceptional who drove and scored on a as a team. When you play those high level teams, win or lose, it has a way of taking a team to a new level.” Previously placing second in the Hoops For Kindness Tournament in Vancouver, Wash., coach Alsup said that they saw what they were capable of, especially against The Portland Future in that same tourney. “That pushed this team to a new level of play and they left that on the court during the CGC tournament,” coach Alsup said. Last weekend’s efforts in Hood River improved The Splash Brothers’ AAU Tournament record to 17-11 on top of their 8-1 regular season record. Coach Alsup had a quick and small group to lead, with Austen and Levi Alsup play- ing guard spots, and Jayden Mondragon, Nautis Kerr, Ben Grahm, Creed Weedman, Christian Rubio and Diego Ambriz taking on various roles inside the paint and on the perimeter. With some runner-up per- formances and tournament wins under their belts, The Splash Brothers have proven that they are just getting started. These third grade stand- outs will only get bigger, The Splash Brothers third grade boys basketball team wrapped up a solid winter campaign with first place at the Columbia Gorge Classic last weekend in Hood River. In the photo are, left to right, back row, Austen Alsup, Creed Weedman, Diego Ambriz, and Ben Grahm. In the front row are Jayden Mondragon, Nautis Kerr, Christian Rubio, and Levi Alsup. Contributed photo faster and stronger from here. basketball,” coach Alsup said. it. I am very much looking “These boys want to play “They just have a passion for forward to their future.” CGBA seventh grade boys cap year with title run Three other groups end up in second place Rodriguez ■ Ray The Dalles Chronicle The Columbia Gorge Basketball Academy also had a handful of other teams showcased on the hardwood at the Columbia Gorge Classic and the Pacific League Tournament last weekend to complete the 2019-2020 winter hoops session, with the seventh grade boys taking first place, and three other earning runner-up honors. “It was a fun way to finish out our season, and this was many of these kids’ final tournament wearing a CGBA uniform,” said program direc- tor Greg Cummings. “For me personally, it’s bittersweet. I don’t want these kids’ stories to end. Just the opposite. I hope it’s only the beginning for them.” The seventh grade team, coached by Michael Cates, played in the Columbia Gorge Classic at Columbia High School and turned in a 4-0 record by taking games versus Hood River, Vancouver and twice defeat- ed South Wasco County to end the season on top. Columbia Gorge Basketball Academy’s fourth grade boys group, coached by Craig Gunderson, had a solid run going at 3-1 until losing in the title matchup versus the Vancouver Flames fifth Dr. Cullen’s Student of the week Alma Garcia, Senior: She is working very hard. She is sticking to getting her goal of graduating. She sits down, gets her work out and gets what she needs done. She has had pretty good attendance and will readily do make up work when she misses school. Congratulations Alma Garcia, TDHS Columbia View Dental 1915 E. 19th Street | The Dalles Victor Cullen, DDS 541-296-5677 | Se habla español graders by three points to end up 3-2 overall for a runner-up finish. On the eighth grade boys side, the CGBA squad, coached by Greg Cummings played in Seaside last weekend and had another impressive outing, but went 3-1, losing a double overtime heartbreaker, 56-51, against Seaside. Cummings has been around this eighth grade core since they were third or fourth graders, so there’s a little more emotion going into everything they have been through over the past few years. “As I’ve said before, they are all like my own kids,” Cummings said. “Their fam- ilies are a part of my family and I will forever be grateful for them sticking by me and their teammates. The kids on this team are really special. They are super-talented, they play as a team, they only have one speed and that is all out. They love to be coached and yelled at and pushed and they are coachable.” The other CGBA eighth grade boys, coached by Kameron Sam played in the Columbia Gorge Classic in Hood River, and although they went winless at 0-4, they stuck together and showed massive improvements on both sides of the ball and im- proved by leaps and bounds and competed in every game. On the girls side, coach Lindsay Brock had her sixth- through-eighth grade team Players and coaches representing the Columbia Gorge Basketball Academy seventh grade boys bas- ketball team rattled off a 4-0 record to secure first place at last weekend’s Columbia Gorge Classic played in Hood River. In the photo are, starting in the back row, from left to right, William Booth, Avery Schwartz, River McClure, Trey Hodges, Sterling Coburn, and Andrew Voodre (head coach). In the front row are, from left, Brandon Lentz, Nolan Cates, and Leighton Voodre. Mark Coburn/Contributed photo put on another top display with a 3-1 record, as they entered the final round with an unblemished standing through their three first games, but wound up losing a closely-contested title contest in Seaside. There will be plans in place for spring games, sum- mer league tournaments and fall ball before the start of next winter, so the constant repetitions and court time will be a huge benefactor for these athletes as the years go by. “As I reflect on this sea- son, one word consistently pops in my head is growth,” Cummings said. “I can say without a shadow of a doubt, every single one of our kids are significantly better basketball players today then they were at the beginning of the season. And the best part? They had fun while doing it. I’m so proud of the players, coaches and families that committed their winter to basketball. It’s really incredible. Without supportive parents, no pro- gram like this exists and is successful.”
