Inland Empire Championships – Spokane

5th Grade Boys Black

The 5th grade boys played well in Spokane and went 6-0 to win the Championship and qualify for Nationals in Cocoa Beach, FL. The first game they played on Friday was against the Silver Valley Wildcats out of North Idaho and established their dominance from the start by winning 60 to 17. The next game was against another North Idaho team on Saturday who was North Idaho Steel and again starting off slow but playing great tenacious defense and contributions from everyone they won the game 42 to 17. The next game in our pool was suppose to be the toughest match up in our pool against Spokane Elite Hawks who played very well earlier in the day! The Black team started out slow and was only up 4 points at the half 25 to 21. After a quick reminder to them not playing the defense that we teach, the boys came out with a reckless abandoned on defense that was very impressive. They held Spokane Elite Hawks to just 7 points in the second half which is a dominant defensive effort I have seen from them this year. The final score was 55 to 28 with Max Rice finishing up with 23 points and Danny Oliver-Connelly finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

On Sunday, after going 3-0 in pool play we started tournament play where we played the 2nd place team out of Pool A which was the Billings Gators. With an early 8 am start again the boys started out slow which was the theme of the day and struggled through the first half of the game with a 18 to 14 lead at half. The Billings Gators was a well coached group and played very hard which helped wake up the boy’s effort. After a dominant 2nd half they finished the game with a great run and finished the game 44 to 20 to put them in the semi-finals game at 11:45 am. In the semi-finals we matched up with the North Idaho Steel team that we played in pool play on Saturday. After another slow start we took control of the game and won 34 to 20 to put ourselves in the Championship.

The Championship game was one of the most exciting games I have been a part of. Knowing we were not playing our best basketball and having to go against a dominant team out of Seattle the boys rose to the occasion. The match up was against Salvation Army Truth who dominated every team they played to get to this point. Both teams playing their hearts out and with the lead going back and forth, Max Rice hit a long 3 pointer and got fouled to finish a 4 point play to put us up by 3. We lead by 4 points at half time 29 to 25! In the second, half the Truth stormed back and took a 4 point lead but the boys would not give in. They played tenacious defense to force 3 turnovers in a row to tie the game going into the 4 qtr. With big plays back and forth and us winning by 2 going into the final minutes, the Truth had to start fouling to get the ball back. Max Rice stepped up to the line and drained 2 free throws to put us up by 4. The Truth came down and scored again and had to foul again. Ethan Christianson got to the line and drained 3 out of 4 free throws to put us ahead for good and the boys ended up winning the Championship game 50 to 43 for a huge win! We want to praise the boys for battling their little hearts out with all the odds against them such has bad calls, Parker Schwers playing with one arm, Carter Arrasmith going out in the second half with a knee injury, Danny Oliver-Connelly having foul trouble, Brock Denison having a upset stomach and Paul Michael having to leave early to catch a plane back home! These boys defied odds and won a huge tournament that qualified them for Nationals in Cocoa Beach, FL in July! Great job Dreamers, we are so proud of your efforts!

5th Grade Boys Blue

The 5th Grade Boys Blue played well and went 2-2 for the weekend to end their tournament season on a good note. They played their first game on Friday night after a 6 and half hour drive against a team from Spokane, the Ducks. They started off slow but battled in the first half to lead by 1 point at half time. The Blue team had their chances to take control the 2nd half but did not take advantage of them so the Ducks took control and won 42 to 30 for a disappointing lost coming out of the gate for the Blue team. On Saturday, after getting some rest and realizing they are a better team than they showed the night before the Blue team played their last game in pool play against Tri City Hawks. The boys played really hard but just couldn’t pull away from the Hawks and they found themselves down 8 points at the half time. They battled the whole game and found themselves down 10 points in the 4th quarter. The boys buckled down on defense and stormed back from 10 points to put themselves ahead for good with 2 minutes left in the game. They finished the game really strong and won 45 to 41 against a good team. That was a great win and battle for the boys! They finished 1-1 in their pool but lost on the tie breaker to put them as the 3 place team so they had to play another game that night against Silver Valley Wildcats from North Idaho. After a big win physically and mentally earlier in the day, the boys came out really flat and ended up losing the game 34 to 26 but was the better team but all of them played hard which what matters most. Coming from a disappointing lost the Blue team played their last game against the Cougars out of Spokane. The Blue team showed from the start what kind of team they are with a 19 to 5 start to finish up with an 18 point lead at half. With all the kids playing minutes they relaxed a little bit to let the Cougars back into the game but buckled down at the end to finish them off. They ended up winning the game 42 to 33 to finish the tournament with an impressive win! Thanks for a great tournament Dreamers! You have gotten better every day and we appreciation the efforts! Keep Dreaming and Keep Believing!