Journey To The Fab 48 Pt. 2

2016 was an interesting year for Team Industry Basketball. On one hand, we increased our number of teams to seven which at the time seemed impossible to have. On the other hand, it became quite daunting to manage because we weren’t accustomed to having this many teams before. We merged the Covina Colts travel team led by former Edgewood Junior Varsity Coach Tom Andrade with several players from the 2015 14u team and formed our inaugural 15u team. Coach Juan Covarrubias was in charge of our 14u team. Coach Rob Torres and Coach Anthony De Leon led our 16u and 17u Premier teams. Coach Edvin Peraza led our youngest squad to date with our 11u team and Coach Jonathan Reyes returned with the 16u Elite team. However, all eyes were still on our 17u Elite team coming fresh off a successful 2015 season. Although, this team didn’t have the depth as the 2015 team, this 2016 17u team still packed a punch with five returners from the 2015 team. As exciting as this new journey was going, there were a lot of bumps in the road as well. Managing seven teams is not easy. Hell, managing one team is not easy. However, it was a goal to expand on the Industry brand and double the amount of teams we’ve had in the past.

At the end of the previous campaign at the 2015 Fab 48, I said we would return next year and make a bigger impact. At the start of 2016 one major factor contributed with a complete makeover of our schedule. The Nothin But League in Upland was no more. What brought the mystique to the Industry name disappeared and was up to myself to find a new home turf for us. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Our 2016 schedule was completely different. The somewhat new schedule forced us to get out of our comfort zone during the typical planned NBN dates and branch out to other tournament venues. Our first tournament was actually a shootout as we entered the Focus Basketball Easter Shootout in Seal Beach. For the first time ever, the 17u team lost their first game of the season. Despite having a decent showing against Fast break Sports, it wasn’t enough to put them away losing 46-43. The second game, we returned to normal as we defeated ELA Heat. Yes, the game came down to the end, but a win is still a win. With this win put Industry in new territory starting off the season 1-1.

Returning to Palm Springs a week later for the Duel In The Desert, the 17u team once again made a semi-final appearance but lost to tournament host ARC. After destroying Indio High School 47-14 in the third place game, we left the desert with some hardware once again.

As Industry prepared for the Double Pump Hoopfest, Industry had its first roster change. This forced me to call up two members of the 17u Premier roster to compete. Game one proved to be a confidence booster for Team Industry after defeating fellow neighbor travel team Lights Out Basketball 46-33. The second game was an even bigger boost for us as we defeated the I.E. Pacers 34-23. For the first time, Industry would advance in the Championship bracket of the Double Pump Hoopfest. However, that was short lived as they were defeated 43-32 to EBA Gold.

Following the Hoopfest, we went through our second roster change as more returners from the previous year dropped forcing more 17u premier players to join the team. Within a span of two weeks in between April and May, Industry went through four roster changes. Practices also started to see a decrease in players participating in practice because of the roster changes. This forced me to combine the 17u Premier and Elite teams together to form one team. It was very stressful period for a lot of people including the players, parents and coaches because of numerous players not coming to practice. As the 2016 ARC San Diego Memorial Tournament approached, there was plenty of uncertainty as to who would be going and who wouldn’t. New players from other programs came and went which caused a lot of frustration. However, we got an answer just days before our departure. With little experience for a majority of the team, it was up to the leadership of the returners we had left to hold down the fort. Despite going 2-1 in pool play with their only loss at the hands of Double Pump Hoopfest opponent I.E. Pacers, we found our way to the Championship Game against the AZ Dream Team. Although it was a losing effort, this marked the first time Industry appeared in a Championship Game in San Diego.

Following the Memorial Tournament, Team Industry finally had its roster set and finalized. The team consisted guys of the already established team Jason Reyes, Andres Flores, Cameron Caterio, Daniel Felix, and Christopher Martinez. Newcomers were Jason Pico, Ozzy Mancillia, Isaac Gutierrez, and Alessandro Campos. With the Fab 48 a month and a half away, Industry had very little time to perfect their game. Their first stop was the Swoosh Summerslam at Santiago Canyon College. Keep in mind, Industry had not won a tournament Championship yet at that point so we were starving for our first one of the season. Going in game one, Industry took care of busy however, our play was sloppy. Even though a win is a win, it still made us feel a little nervous for the next game as we prepared for HD Venom. HD Venom was the team to beat in the tournament. Our man to man to start the game was not working so it forced us to go to a matchup zone to throw them off. Our zone allowed us to crawl back into the game and defeat HD Venom by 13 points. We knew we were going to see them further down the road so we had to be as prepared as possible. The next stop in pool play was the HB Canes in which our play was a lot better than the day before defeating the Canes 55-35. This set up the rematch against HD Venom in the Championship Game. After a back and forth contest the first several minutes of the game, Industry referred back to the matchup zone against them. Although we got stops defensively, it was our offense that needed the big break. And late into the first half we got our big break. Our fast break points and half court offense proved to be too much for HD as we eventually took them out early in the first half and continued our foot on the gas pedal into the second half. The end result was a 19 point victory over HD Venom and our first championship of the season.

Following the Swoosh Summerslam, Industry was set to prepare for the next tournament….The Father’s Day Classic in which a year ago we won that same tournament. This year we were looking to repeat as back to back Champions. This time around the field was deeper. There were no cake walks for us this go- around. Industry had some competition in front of them. After a one point loss to Fast Break Sports to start the tournament, we had to respond in the second game if we wanted an opportunity to repeat. Not only did we respond, but we dominated our second opponent Westminster High School by 25 points. This would setup the eventual Championship game against the Southeast Warriors. In the previous encounter with Southeast in 2015, they defeated us by double digits so we knew had to play with a chip on our shoulder. We would respond with a 74-63 win over the Warriors and our second Championship of the season. In fact, this was the game where all five starters scored in double digits. This proved to be a huge boost for us as we felt we had all the momentum going into our final stop on the road to the Fab 48.

The 2016 Swoosh ultimate Showcase on paper seemed like we were destined to make it three in a row for Championship success. In our first two games of pool play it seemed just that. The first game saw us defeat Swoosh Canada by 20 points. However, the next two games it seemed we took a step back. The first opponent…KC Elite. Barely defeating them by one, it wasn’t a good sign going into the semi-finals against AMP. With the winner taking on Swoosh Canada in the finals, we looked ahead in preparation of Swoosh Canada and lost in the semi-finals by seven. This didn’t sit well with the players as many were concerned with how this performance would carry over in the Fab 48. I remember telling our captains, we will be just fine going into Vegas.

After calling up a couple of players from the 16u Elite team as a reward for their efforts with their team, I ensured our final practices leading up to Vegas were going to be intense. Our final practices of the season were just that. After going over countless things to prepare us for Vegas, I finally allowed our players to scrimmage each other the last 45 minutes of practice. In those 45 minutes there were no officials, call your own fouls affair. Playing in Vegas is not easy. There’s a different side you have to bring out in order to survive and in order to compete in Vegas we had to go after each other in practice. The level of intensity rose ten notches in our scrimmages and in the end; it seemed we were ready for the desert.

As we arrived in Vegas we knew our first opponent was not going to be easy as we were set to play Uptempo Academy. Although our paths have never crossed, we knew they were going to be a tough opponent. However, this game will be remembered for the game winning three point shot from Jason Reyes late into the second half. There have been many memorable game winning shots in our program’s history. This shot was no different.

After a huge three point shot from Jason, we needed one stop on the defensive end to seal our first win. Long story short…..we got the stop and defeated Uptempo 63-62.

We knew we couldn’t celebrate for long because the next day we would have to play the defending Fab 48 Champions Seattle Swish. We knew their size and length was going to be an issue for us….and it was. We seemed intimidated by their presence and we lost our competitive edge. Needless to say they destroyed us 63-29. You best believe we ran at the end of the game. I didn’t like the way we competed and I didn’t like how we were intimidated by their presence. We had to respond. And what better way to respond than against longtime foe Edge Basketball. In our previous two encounters in 2015, Industry defeated Edge both times. We knew they haven’t forgotten about us so we had to make a statement if we wanted to move on to bracket play. After coming out strong early in the first half, we proved to be too much or Edge as this was the breakout game from former Edgewood alumni Ozzy Mancilla and Isaac Gutierrez. Following the game, it was announced we took second in our pool and would be receiving a first round bye and on to the round of 16 of the Fab 48 for the second year in a row. That night we celebrated. We went out to Chili’s and then followed by a trip to Pole Position Raceway. I was proud of our guys for getting to the round of 16 back to back years, but we knew the job wasn’t finished. However, on that particular evening I wanted our guys to feel proud of their accomplishments and enjoy our team bonding.

The next morning we prepared for our early morning game against the El Paso Generals. Early in the contest the game was tied and both teams traded buckets. But after a few stops and buckets from the Generals, they proved to be too much for us as they came away with a 63-38 victory. Although we were disappointed with our performance, we still competed from start to finish.

After completing the season with a 17-10 record, the 2016 17u team successfully completed another winning season. In my eyes, this team doesn’t get a whole lot of credit because of the two teams that preceded them. However, this team flies under the radar, but in a good way. Just when we were counted out, we kept shocking teams in the end with our competitiveness. A lot will be said about the 2014 Dream Team and the Super Team from 2015, but this 2016 team I was extremely proud of because of what we went through all season long. In my humble opinion, our performance at the Fab 48 this time around was just as impressive as the previous year because this roster wasn’t as deep as the last one. However, with the leadership of our returners, the emergence of our supporting cast and the unity of this team, we still managed to put together a run that deserves the respect of many. And with 2017 on the horizon, we were excited with what the new year had in store for us. However, the landscape of Team Industry Basketball was about to change and the beginning of the end was upon us…

To Be Continued…

Next Entry: The End of An Era