7th Grade-April 30-May 1

PANTHERS 26 COLLEGE BOUND 24
PANTHERS 12 DAVIS WILDCATS 30

PANTHERS 44 GV HOOPSTERS 12

 

Although we were scheduled for two back to back games on Saturday morning, at 8:00am and 9:00am, we came out ready to play and the weekend as a whole resulted in substantial success for the Panther Program. The girls battled fiercly for their first victory ever since the implementation of the Panther's middle school program. In our second game against Davis, we were outsized by the team as a whole, yet we adjusted our defense into a 2-1-2 and actually kept them out of the key for the remainder of the game. I was extremely impressed with the girl's hustle and ability to make adjustments on the fly. The Davis coach even commented after the game about how much the girls have improved and he was caught off-guard once we settled into the game :)

 

Our game on Sunday proved to be a step in the right direction as many of our girls took it upon themselves to step up and play at a higher level! We had standout play from Stephanie, Devyn, Destinee, and Sharon throughout the game against GV. I was hesitant to remove the press as our ball pressure was spectaculor and I wanted the girls to continue gaining their confidence, yet after we built our lead we dropped into a 2-3 zone and worked on filling the gaps.

 

Best Offensive Players of the Weekend: Jordan, Sharon, Destinee, Devyn, Stephanie, Morgan (Could have been the entire team!)

Best Defensive Players of the Weekend: Morgan, Stephanie, & Devyn

Best Effort: THE ENTIRE TEAM!!!

 

5th Grade-April 30-May 1

PANTHERS 26 RENO BALLERS BLUE 20
PANTHERS 28 RENO BALLERS SILVER 19
PANTHERS 9 LAFEYETTE LIGHTNING 36

Our first two games were at William Jessup and the courts just weren't what we were used to. Coach Stayza even stood on the court for most of the games due to a lack of bench space. We played a solid Reno Blue team with three fast guards and had a difficult time getting back on defense in moments throughout the game. Despite this we overcame their transition game and we closed out the game with our first victory of the weekend. The second game we played Reno's Silver team in which there appeared to be three or four "familiar" looking faces on the other team. Our trap defense was strong and we hustled for most of the game which was too much for the Silver team to handle.

Our last game of the weekend we played against the Lafeyette Lightning. We were outmatched from the beginning, despite them playing two games prior to ours, as these girls executed multiple defenses with percision. They also shot the light out with fundamental bank shots, jumpers in their range, and they shared the ball with each other very well. Not to mention all but three of the girls were as tall or taller then Coach Stayza!!!

We ended up finishing the tournament in 2nd Place...which is still a victory in my book, especially considering how far we've come in such little time. I look forward to playing again this upcoming Saturday and can't wait to watch the girls improve even more.

**There are no individual awards for this tournament as I believe all the girls worked extremely hard and should all be recognized for their individual efforts that led to our team's success :)

April 23

PANTHERS 25 EDH ALL NET GOLD 32
PANTHERS 28 EAGLES 18
PANTHERS 40 EDH ALL NET BLUE 14

With it being Spring Break for the school systems, many of our girls were out of town for mini-vacations. Also, the fact that Easter was the following day didn’t help much either. We have 5 of our Panther girls and 2 soon to be Panthers join us for this last minute tournament.

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge that all the girls that played this weekend had just attended a five day basketball camp with about five hours of intensive training each day. The first game against EDH All Net
Gold was a battle. We were down early in the first quarter but battled our way back by the start of the second. We ran our full court press the entire game, in which we forced many turnovers, but the lack of subs made if difficult to give the girl’s long periods of rest. Ultimately, our fatigue slowed us down and allowed EDH to pull away and close the game off.

After an hour break we played the Eagles in which we didn’t press at all the entire game. We had to rely on our solid half court defense so that we could rest as much as possible to be ready for our third and final game. Our defense held the Eagles on the perimeter and very rarely were they able to score.

The final game against EDH All Net Blue was a sight to see. The girls poured it on from the very beginning and also sought revenge for the loss against their gold team. We ran a stellar 2-3 Zone defense in which our Posts were able to cover short corner and allow our Guards to focus on keeping the perimeter closely defended. In the fourth quarter we began to slow down a little from the fatigue, but we were able to hold EDH off and attain our second victory of the day.

Great effort Lady Panthers! The hardwork is beginning to pay off!

Best 3 Pointer: Jada
Breakout Game: Kymaya

Impact Players: Skyler & Mika
Offensive Players of the Game: Lauren, Kymaya, Tyra, Maddie
Defensive Players of the Game: the entire Panther team!!

April 16-17

PANTHERS 25 CRR 42
PANTHERS 13 TEAM HO.OP. MANA 29
PANTHERS 10 DAVIS WILDCATS 42

This was an interesting weekend for the Panther’s 7^th grade team. The key point in this is that we played in the 7^th grade girls bracket, but we only had three 7^th graders in town at the time so five 5^th graders and two 8^th graders from the Panther’s program came to help us out. In all three games I believe we were capable of competing, but we were outmatched in size, especially in the last two games. We got off to a slow start with CRR and attempted to battle our way back, but they had two aggressive scorers and their lead compounded. Team HO.OP. Mana was a solid team that just outmatched our execution in the long run. Similar to the previous game, the Wildcats had many girls taller than myself, so it was difficult for the girls to fend off their dribble penetration.

The size difference was something we couldn’t overcome when in came to our 5^th graders. Despite their skill set and ability to compete, the Davis girls were just too tall for us to battle against. Tearyn had a standout performance as she had several rebounds, putbacks, and even played point-guard (however briefly) and brought the ball up the court. Thank you to Stephanie who ran with us this weekend as a veteran point-guard and did what she could to make an impact.

I’m impressed with the determination of the entire team and the 5^th graders especially. Despite the size difference, the girls seemed to battle as if there was no disadvantage. It was a great learning experience for all the girls involved and hopefully our other 7^th graders will be around for the next tournament.

Best Hustle: Tearyn
Best Attitude: the entire Panther team!!
Best Overall Effort: the entire Panther team!!

April 9-10

PANTHERS 25 YOUNG NATIVE BALLERS 13
PANTHERS 12 CAL LADY RED RAIDERS 5^TH 17
PANTHERS 37 CAL LADY RED RAIDERS 4^TH 30

**Congratulations on your FIRST PLACE FINISH in this weekend’s tournament ladies!!**

We started off the tournament playing against the Young Native Ballerz who had gone undefeated against the other two teams in our bracket earlier that morning. For a 4^th grade team they sure were aggressive and willing to fire up the basketball! Our ability to out-execute the other team offensively enabled us to overcome their press and gain our first victory of the tournament.

Playing against the 5^th grade CRR team we got off to a dreadful start. We were impatient with the basketball and often tried to force a pass to the first cutter. The girls are beginning to understand the options within the offense, but now we have to learn to be patient and wait for the second or third cutter. Lauren had 14 rebounds in this game and we had 38 total as a team, but we were just unable get the ball in the basket. We ultimately lost this came because our shots weren’t falling and we didn’t take care of the basketball.

The girls came out ready to play in this last game and scored the same amount of points as they did in the previous two games combined. We shared the basketball very well this game with seven different players scoring. Our defensive was also executed almost the entire game until the very end were the CRR girls made a little run. Despite this, we were able to hold them off and pull of the second victory of the weekend. 

Tournament MVP: Lauren
Offensive Players of the Game: Tyra & Jada
Defensive Players of the Game: Maddie, Natalie, & Sydney

Defensive Captain: Emi (the only one who talked on defense the entire game!)

7th-8th Grade-March 19th-20th

PANTHERS 12 DAVIS WILDCATS 51
PANTHERS 22 AS1 28
PANTHERS9 DEL ORO JR. EAGLES 38

The middle school girls were exposed to their first AAU tournament since joining the YBA Panther program. With only two hours to put into place a court trapping defense, an offense with various options, and multiple inbounds plays the girls did what they could. We struggled to break the pressure defense from the Wildcats but the Panthers ran the floor well, played solid defense, and did many things very well. When we played AS 1 the girls had the lead throughout the first half of the game until the other team took over. AS 1 went on a run and when Megan, our point-guard, went down with an ankle injury, the rest of the team began to grow disheartened. Unfortunately, although I was unable to coach the last game against the Jr. Eagles, Coach Adam and Coach Allen told me great things! The overall effort given by these girls this past weekend was a sight to see. With more practice and repetition the older Panthers will be a force to reckon with!!

Best Effort: The Entire Team

Most Improved: The Entire Team

6th Grade-March 19th-20th

PANTHERS 4 AS1 43
PANTHERS 4 FOLSOM UNITED 40

Although we played in the 6^th grade bracket with an array of talent, we had not had any practice time for this particular team. I believe both games allowed the girls to get the floor under their sneakers in a game atmosphere and showed them what hard-work results in. This was by far the most difficult bracket for the entire Panther program. Despite the scoreboard, the girls managed to keep their heads up and hustle until the final buzzer sounded. Great effort ladies!

Best Effort: The Entire Team

5th Grade-March 19th-20th

PANTHERS 17 AS1 41
PANTHERS 16 AS1 36
PANTHERS24 NAPA RENEGADES 21

The first two games of the tournament the Panthers had to face a very formidable opponent. The AS 1 team executed to near perfection and pushed the ball extremely well. The Panthers had yet to play against such a fundamentally sound group who definitely pushed our execution abilities. While we did see signs of what are Panthers are capable ofthey ultimately werent able to hold off AS 1 for great lengths throughout either game. The last game of the tournament proved to be the most tumultuous game by far. The girls we down early in the game by nearly 14 points until they kicked it into gear. With excellent rebounding by Lauren and Kymaya, pestering defense by Amara, Sydney, and Natalie, and amazing teamwork by all the girls were we able to battle our way back. Our man to man press and overall defense was too much for the Renegades to handle. With what was the longest game of the tournament, our 5^th grade Panthers celebrated their first victory of the spring session!

Offensive Player of the Game: Lauren & Kymaya

Defensive Player of the Game: Amara, Sydney, & Natalie

Best Effort: The Entire Team!!!

4th Grade-March19th-20th

PANTHERS 40 AS1 7
PANTHERS 25 NAPA RENEGADES 17

Congratulations to the Panthers who participated in the 4^th grade bracket and beat all the teams they battled against this past weekend! Even though we were forced to play on the smallest court in the world, our girls managed to maintain excellent defense. We harassed the other team with our trapping press and even pushed the ball despite what little room we had.

Offensive Player of the Game: The Entire Team

Defensive Player of the Game: The Entire Team

Best Effort: Emi

YBA Panthers Blog

Welcome to the official YBA Panthers Blog.

With a few tournaments under their belts, it was the perfect time to establish a blog specifically for the Panthers!  Here you will find weekly updates from the coaching staff.

Good luck to all the YBA Panthers and welcome to the YBA Family!

March 13-14

PANTHERS 7 PACIFIC PISTOLS 35
PANTHERS 6 DEL ORO LADY EAGLES 46
PANTHERS 9 HURRICANES 33

Despite the scoreboard results at the end of this weekend I thought this tournament was quite a success. The girls faced an extreme amount of competition but in my opinion they prevailed through it all. The 6th grade teams we played against appeared to be almost as tall as myself and they were very aggressive in getting to the basket. However, our ladyPanther's team came ready to play and did an excellent job with what little practice we've had to this point. In all three gamesI observeda lot of hustle, effort, and most importantly a lot of HEART. Even though a few of us were intimidated at variousmoments during the three games I was proud to see theencouragement they gave eachother.

I apologize for the technical I received in the third game. Although it created a bit of confusion I found that the girls not only composed themselves very rapidly butthey also made it easier for me to move forward. This is just another example of focusing on the things that can be controlled during a game and moving on from things that cannot.

We learned a lot about ourselves in playing up a grade level this weekend. With the support from the parents and the teamwork amongst the girls I am highly looking forward to refining our skills over the next few practices. After that, we will go back to a 5th grade bracket and give it another shot. I can't wait!!

Best Hustle: the entire Panther team!!
Best Attitude: the entire Panther team!!
Offensive Players of the Game: Jada & Lauren
Defensive Players of the Game: Amara & Sydney