“The 2011 Team Part III: A Great Weekend To Be Great”

By the picture above, you can already guess what the outcome is going to be by the end of this story. However, what has failed to be mentioned for all these years is the backstory behind the quote “A Great Weekend To Be Great.” What this quote signifies is Team Industry wasn’t the only member of the Y.A.L. family that walked out with gold Memorial Day weekend. Before we continue with our story from the previous entry, let’s give a brief explanation on the events that led up to this perfect weekend.

May 21, 2011. Three teams play with one thing in common….Ronald Atmore. Team Industry, Cal Pal Soccer, and Industry Softball all had tournaments that weekend. While Cal Pal Soccer went up north to Oxnard, Industry Basketball and Softball prepared for their tournaments in Southern California. In the days leading up to May 21, Team Industry had a lot of high expectations as they were to set the tone for the rest of that Saturday.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Team Industry finished the Nothin’ But Net Spring League 5-2 entering as one of the top four teams in the League. Team Industry would take on P-Town Blazers in what was the most anticipated game of the playoffs. In the minutes leading up to the game Coach Troy mentioned P-Town Blazers would be more prepared this time around due to their last meeting. Coach Troy also mentioned Team Industry couldn’t slack off early because P-Town is known for hitting the knockout punch at tip-off. Well, as soon as tip-off began…….that is exactly what happened. P-Town went on a huge run early causing Team Industry to use two of three timeouts in the first six minutes of the ball game. In the first half alone, Team Industry had more turnovers than points. LITERALLY! Despite both teams going cold within the last eight minutes of the half, P-Town led the game 15-4 at halftime.

The first half was ugly. Team Industry vs. P-Town turned out to be a complete nightmare for spectators as many thought THIS was game of the day. After an irate Coach Troy gave his players a piece of mind at halftime, Team Industry was ready to go. In the second half, Team Industry would take full control as Industry went on an 8-0 run causing P-Town to call a timeout. The entire second half turned into a slugfest as both teams duked it out trading baskets left and right. After a crucial charge late in the second half and two free throws by Enrique Ramirez, Team Industry stunned the P-Town Blazers 35-31 sending Team Industry into the Championship Game against Inside Moves.

As Team Industry prepared for Inside Moves a major issue came about. Prior to the Championship Game, Inside moves had two of their best players and their Head Coach missing. Team Industry took full advantage from tip-off as Team Industry took an early lead and never looked back. In the end, an alley-oop play from Zachary Monroy to David Tolmachoff sealed the deal as Team Industry captured their first Championship under the direction of Coach Troy defeating Inside Moves by double digits.

May 21, 2011 was a day of first. Three championships were captured in three different sports. No matter the circumstances, the City of Industry was a big winner that weekend. On that Saturday as far as we were concerned, Ronald Atmore said it best….”it was a great weekend to be great.”