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