March 9, 2009

TimesSports

Silver Creek wrestlers win five CCS medals

By Val Esquivel
Special to the Times

2009 Silver Creek wrestling team’s had the makings of compelling reality television. Going into the BVAL league tournament, the Raiders boasted a 5-2 overall dual meet record and were aiming for the BVAL tournament team title. Traveling up and done the State to seek out the best competition which included numerous trips to Clovis, as far north as Elk Grove, and ending locally at Gilroy’s Mid-Cal tournament and the Mission San Jose Invitational in Fremont, it was time to see if the hours of training and sacrifice were to pay dividends.

The 2009 Silver Creek wrestling team

Anchored by varsity captains, Jordan Yamat (114 lbs), John Tran (137 lbs), and Evan Crockett (142 lbs) these 3 seniors held the team together through both tragedy and triumph. With kids quitting for various reasons throughout the season, the Silver Creek coaches put together the most competitive line-up for the BVAL tournament calling on a mix of crafty veterans, young and upcoming underclassmen, and two of their female wrestlers who had found success on the rapidly growing women’s wrestling circuit.

Edging the Santa Teresa Saints who were the 2008 – 2009 dual meet champions, the Silver Creek Raiders took the team title with 228.5 points. Champions crowned that evening were, Jordan Yamat (114 lbs), Evan Crockett (142 lbs), Ismael Sanchez (154 lbs), and Richard Segovia (287 lbs). Other placer winners which contributed to the stand out performance at the BVAL finals were; Sebastian Lopez 8th (121 lbs), John Tran 3rd (137 lbs), Avinder Sahota 5th (162 lbs), and Daniel Carpio 4th (173 lbs).

Hot off the heels of their stellar performance at the BVAL finals, the Raiders took that same momentum into the CCS wrestling tournament with a fifth place finish as a team. The top four place winners in each weight class qualify for the CIF State wrestling tournament at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California.

After a grueling two days, The Raiders once again proved that they were among the elite in the CCS. With seven qualifiers, five Raiders came home with CCS medals. Jordan Yamat narrowly missed a trip to the State tournament with a 5th place finish at CCS.

Unseeded John Tran upset three seeded wrestlers on his way to a 4th place finish and will make his first trip as a competitor in Bakersfield. BVAL champion Evan Crockett lost in the finals in a highly contested match and also makes his first trip to the State meet. The unorthodox Ismael Sanchez took 4th at CCS and makes his first trip to Bakersfield. Sanchez who is only a sophomore defeated many upperclassmen and will look to gain valuable experience from competing at the State meet.

Saving the best for last, Senior Richard Segovia improved upon his 3rd place finish at CCS last year with the CCS tournament title. Defeating section rival Gilroy’s Luis Barragan who was the 2007-2008 CCS champion, Segovia secured the victory with a textbook double leg in the last 12 seconds of regulation. Segovia heads into the State meet as the #3 ranked wrestler in the State of California.

As the season comes to a close and the last four wrestlers prepare for the State meet and train to decide their fate the weekend of Mar. 6 and 7, Head Coach Eddie Luna reminds his team, staff, and supporters of the bigger picture. “Championships are great and we have many of them at Silver Creek but at the end of the day, wrestling is just a sport and we’re concerned with turning out productive members of society.” With numerous kids in college and competing at the Division I level it looks as if the kids who have endured are well on their way to success, win or lose.

Chaboya 8th grade boys’ basketball Colts are East Section champs

By Bryan Tran
Special to the Times

Overall, our season had many ups and downs. Going into the season, everyone had been living off last year’s memories of blowing out other teams by 20, but after two demoralizing blow-out losses to Willow Glen Middle School, everyone’s attitude had changed for the better.

After our tournament losses, everyone had started working harder every day in practice and games. When playoff time came, we were all ready and eager to start. In our first game against Britton, we came out strong even though we had blown them out the previous week. Not letting that get to our heads, we pressured them on defense, forcing turnovers and converting our steals into easy lay-ups. Though we beat Britton by a large margin that day, we did not let anything go to our heads.

The Chaboya 8th grade boys’ basketball Colts

The next day, we faced Morrill Middle School. Coming out strong, we led by 10 in the first half. Then, with a couple turnovers and missed lay-ups, they had made the game close and we were suddenly in trouble. With a large team effort, we squeezed a tight win by a close margin of 3 points. Finally, we had made it to the championship game.

Although we wanted to avenge ourselves by playing Herman, Sierramont had beaten them in overtime. To show we were a team, we sent all five starters as our captains in the game against Sierramont. With both teams making mistakes and missing easy shots, the game was extremely close and at halftime the score was 16-16. Six minutes into the fourth quarter, up by 2, we made a crucial lay-up to put us up by 4.

Because there were only two minutes left, they started to foul us, hoping we would miss our free throws, which we did. After missing our free throws, we pressured them on defense, causing them to force bad shots and turn the ball over. Finally, their guard missed the final shot, and we had won.

No one in particular had caused us to win, it was the team itself, which consists of Raymond Narvaez, Justin Campos, Anthoni Rueca, Derrick Ames, Bryan Tran, Ryan Wood, Nicholas Inneh, Nicholas Teuthorn, Tyler Miyatake, Leondre Wright, Kristoffer Nguyen, Sumeet Vij, Vishal Parikh, Sohum Dalal, Amandeep Sharma and Yizhe Liu.

To celebrate the season, we went to Round Table pizza. Throughout the season, Coach John Franza had constantly been admonishing us for our mistakes, which had obviously paid off in the end. Even though we had endured many hardships during the season such as running enormous amounts of loathsome liners, we were extremely jubilant with the way things had turned out. Because of our hard work, we are the Santa Clara East Section Champs. Also, thanks to Ms. Chinn and Ms. Lopez for doing the scorebook and scoreboard. Last, without Coach Franza, we never would have made it this far, so from the whole team, thank you, Mr. Franza.

Sports Briefs

E.A.S.Y. HOOPS Evergreen Friday Night Teen Basketball League
Attention boys and girls in 6th and 7th grade. E.A.S.Y. HOOPS Basketball returns to Evergreen. Space is limited to 80 players. Request to play on the same team as a friend will be noted but may not be honored. League officials up until the third game may move players to another team to balance the skill level of each team. All games are held at Chaboya Middle School on Fridays from Mar. 20 thru May 22, times will vary for each team, each week. The first game begins at 3 p.m. and each game will begin every hour until 6 p.m. All players must attend the draft clinic on Mar. 20th at Chaboya Middle School. Players will not be assigned a team until a workout with a league official is observed.

The cost is $80, which includes seven games, game jersey, equipment use, medals for all participants, personal basketball, trophies for 1st and 2nd place teams for the end of season tournament and league officials.

To sign up, call John Franza at 605-1513 or Allen Ventura at 410-3570 to request a Registration form. Forms can be filled out and returned to Chaboya Middle School before March 13 2009, c/o John Franza or Allen Ventura or send registration to: E.A.S.Y. Hoops, 5963 Glowing Ct., San Jose, CA 95120. Make checks payable to: E.A.S.Y. HOOPS (cash is also accepted)

Fun and Exciting tennis events are coming to your community this spring!
The first annual Evergreen Valley College Men and Women’s Open tournament will be held at the Evergreen Valley College Upper Courts on April 19 from 12 noon till finish. The tournament is open to all tennis players in the Bay Area and there is prize money to be won! The entry is free to the staff and students of EVC and for all others the entry fee will be $10 for this event. This is a one day only event and matches will be on a knock-out basis. To register, please visit www.nirustennis.com and follow links to adult tournament.

The second event will be the United States Tennis Association NORCAL junior Novice and Challenger tournament for juniors of all ages from Under 10 events to Under 18 events. This will be held at the Evergreen Valley College Upper Courts on March 14, 15, 21 and 22. To register for this event, simply go to the link below.
http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/tournamenthome/tournament.aspx?T=78310.

Spring tennis programs at Evergreen Valley College start March 15 for ages 4 through 15. Programs taught by World Class tennis pros. Visit www.nirustennis.com for details.

Local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Chapter Announces 8th Annual Spring Fling at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay
The Greater Bay Area Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) announces the 8th annual Spring Fling which will take place on Saturday March 14, 2009 in Half Moon Bay.

The Spring Fling includes an 18-hole golf tournament, ladies luncheon and evening dinner and auction. Guests can attend any one or all activities. The event was founded in 2002 by Sarah and Don Lucas, whose daughter, Mary, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes ten years ago.

Since inception, this event has brought together committed volunteers, 180 competitive golfers, 120 ladies who lunch, and 350 Evening Bash revelers from Silicon Valley and San Francisco who are contributing and supportive members of the community.

Over the last 8 years, The Spring Fling has successfully raised more than $3.5 million to support type 1 diabetes research. For more information on the event go to: www.curetype1.org/springfling.

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