Seattle Martin Luther King

4th Grade Black

The Hoop Dreams Fourth Grade Black Team participated in the Washington Youth Sports Martin Luther King Jr. Tournament in Seattle over the weekend, finishing in sixth place.   The team struggled in the first game, losing to eventual tournament runners up Seattle Rotary Finkley 38-15.  The Seattle Team used a first quarter 17-2 run, coupled with 33 Dreamers’ turnovers, to put the game out of reach early.  However, the Hoop Dreamers continued to hustle and were able to hold the Rotary team to 11 points in the second half.  Nate Johnson led the team with five points, including the only three pointer by the Hoop Dreamers in the game, and Johvan Dillon contributed with four rebounds and five steals.  Ryo Muta also brought the crowd to its feet with an impressive blocked shot against a much bigger opponent.

The second game was more successful, with the Hoop Dreamers posting a complete victory, defeating the Blackout Seattle B Team, 38-17.  After a slow start, the Dreamers went on a 9-0 run, including a three pointer from Johvan Dillon, to take a 16-9 lead at the half.  The Dreamers then turned on the defense and shut down the Blackout team in the third quarter, holding them to two points, while scoring eleven of their own, and taking a large lead into the fourth quarter.  The Dreamers extended their lead in the fourth, finishing with a 21 point win.  Tanner Hayhurst and Johvan Dillon each contributed eight points, with Zach Ulmer dominating the boards with eight rebounds.  With the win, the Dreamers entered the playoffs as the second seed from Pool A.

The first game of playoffs had the Dreamers playing the Number One seed from Pool C, the “Fast” team from Oregon.  The Dreamers had played a tight game against the Fast in the Portland tournament, losing by three, and the two teams were evenly matched.  In the best game of the tournament, the Dreamers and the Fast battled throughout the game.  The Dreamers jumped out to a 9-4 lead, thanks in large part to Johvan Dillon’s back to back three pointers.  However, the Fast came roaring back, employing a suffocating press break, and the half ended with the Fast up 14-11.  The strong play continued throughout the second half, thanks to leading scorer Tanner Hayhurst’s eleven points and eight rebounds, and the gritty defense of Matt Heffner, Chandler Emerson and Paul “Lumpy” Yenor.  Cameron Churchill also contributed four rebounds and a vital steal in the late minutes of the game.  With seconds to go and the Fast leading by three, Ryo Muta had the chance to tie the game with three free throws.  Alas, it was not meant to be, and the Dreamers fell 28-25 in a well played game.

The final game of the tournament saw the Dreamers stymied by a 1-3-1 defense and exceptional hustle of the Seattle Blackout A Team.  After a respectable hard fought first quarter, the Dreamers were down 12-7.  The Blackout then went on a 19-0 run, using a press and double team, to shut down the Dreamers, limiting them to three points in the final three quarters.  It was a humbling display for the Dreamers, but they never quit.  Lumpy Yenor led the team with three points and five rebounds, and the rest of the team battled the bigger Blackout Team the entire game.  Although the loss left a bad taste in the mouth of the players and birthday boy Coach Emerson, the players can be proud of the hustle and positive attitude they showed the entire tournament.

6th grade Blue

6th grade Blue went to their first big city tournament and played in the D2 division to get tested and get better for the rest of the season and they went 2-2. Their first match up was with a really good team called Issiquah Select Gold. They battle the whole game but had the first game jitters and ended up losing 42-31 but it was a great first game to get them going in the right direction. The 2nd game in pool play was against HYPE out of Seattle and they played tenacious defense and won 30 to 20 for their first win. They ended up in 2nd place in the pool and went to bracket play. The first game was against Thurston which was a good team but again the Blue let nerves get to them and didn’t play their best basketball and lost 44-32. After a great pep talk from Coach Collin the boys was ready for their last game against EBC. EBC had a very big team but the boys didn’t let that bother them and they came out like some hungry lions and took care of business. The website has the score wrong but Blue won 27 to 16 for a 2-2 record. Coach Collin did an excellent job in his first travel tournament with the boys and we are looking forward to some great things from this group! Great job!!!!!!!!!!!

6th grade Black

6th grade Black went to Seattle to get prepared for Portland in Feb and get a gauge on what the competition will look like. They ended the tournament with a 3-1 record which was an excellent way to start the year in the D1 division. First game was against Emerald City Seattle Green and the Black team came out very aggressive and showed they will be a force in this tournament winning 58-23. The next match up was against Friends of Hoop out of Seattle a very good team that we played in Reno and lost by 7. We battled back and forth in the first half but in the second half the shots didn’t fall and Black lost 42 to 31 which push them into the losers bracket. Next game was cancelled but we ended up playing Emerald City and won that game 83 to 20 and this let the boys let off some steam after that tough lost. The next game was suppose to be against NW Panthers of Seattle but they did not show so we were able to replace FOH in their game and play ICP Portland who is one of the top 6th grade teams in Portland. It was a battle the whole game and we were down by 5 at half but playing really well. In the second half the shots started falling and the defense picked up its intensity and we went on a run and ended up winning 45 to 33 to help build our confidence against an excellent ICP Portland team that we will likely see again next month in Portland. Thanks guys for finally showing what I knew all along that you are one of the top teams in the NW. Let’s keep it going!

7th Grade Black

Going into Seattle, the 7th Grade Black had high aspirations for a deep tourney run. Unfortunately, these hopes came crashing down in a slow start and poor shooting performance against ICP of Portland. However, the humbling loss might have been the best thing for this team as it started to put the pieces back together with a convincing 40 point victory over Hoopaholics of Seattle. With a little luck on our side, we were able to pick up a game with a familiar foe in Hype. The 7th Grade Dreamers jumped out early and held the lead for most of the game before losing some poise down the stretch, falling by 2. On the final day, the 7th graders opened up with a 10 point victory over Vanport before getting an extra game against another familiar club, RSB A+. Once again, the Dreamers failed to close the deal after leading early, the losing in OT, again by 2.

Playing against good competition reveals areas to improve. With one month until Portland, we are fortunate to know those weaknesses and are already working on improving them.