JSAG Bantams – Off to a Great Start

Our Bantams Team (age 14 below) was entered for the first time this year.  Admittedly, it was a very tentative and shaky start for this new age division team since early summer, but Coach Greg Garcia was determined as ever to see this through, all for the sake of the kids who came to practices with much enthusiasm and determination.  With a nucleus cut-down to only five eligible local players and two “borrowed” players from our neighbors at Kalahi-Central Jersey , things somehow came together for this team just one week before tournament time… but there was doubt by many on the competitive level of such an upstart team put together so hastily.

Enter another pleasant surprise for JSAG!!!

With only seven players, we were able to show a level of competition that was at par with our more experienced opponents.

The first game was against North York was their “baptism of fire” and, as expected the boys fell behind early and were never able to recoup from a blow-out.

However, their second game against Durham was a totally different story.  The game was close for most of the time and a strong offensive showing by Jake Garcia as well as tight defensive plays by AJ Rustia (“Mr Intensity”), James Layug, Warren Ho and Chris Velasquez were the main factors that kept us within striking distance.  Able support was given by our guest players from Kalahi – Karl Laano and Anthony Lorenzo.

In the end, what led to our demise was the lack of an experienced point-guard.  Durham capitalized on this weakness with a full-court press down the last minutes of the game to eventually pull away to win by 11 points.

Overall, Coach Greg has given the future of this team a very optimistic outlook.  Considering that the nucleus will still be intact, the team will now be reinforced by the addition of several key players from our PeeWee team in 2007.  Things will definitely look better for our Bantams team next year.  And keep your eye on Ryan Bulaun who promises to shape-up for next year! (I’m taking your promise seriously, Stephen!).

Here are some pics that Coach Greg forwarded to me:

JSAG Bantam Team 2006

From left to right: Chris Velasquez, Jake Garcia, Warren Ho

AJ Rustia, James Layug, Anthony Lorenzo, Karl Laano

Game against Durham