April 2, 2004

Willow Glen NJB 76ers win basketball championship

The Willow Glen NJB 76er’s won the boys’ Division 3 (third and fourth graders) Hot Shot bracket in the Silicon Valley chapter of NJB by beating Redwood City 34-26 on March 14. Led by coaches Mike Morgan and Jim Stapleton, the 76er’s stormed through five games in a single elimination championship tournament comprised of 22 teams from other Silicon Valley NJB chapters to capture the title. 

With a 5-5 regular season record, the 76er’s were the 11th seed coming into tournament play. Their road to the championship went through teams from Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Evergreen, West San Jose and Redwood City.  Against a tough Evergreen squad, the 76er’s won 42-40 on a last second shot in overtime.

In the championship game against Redwood City, the 76er’s led by only one point going into the final period. Using the solid team play, aggressive defense, good rebounding, outside shooting and a solid transition game that had been the hallmarks of their tournament run, the 76er’s went on a 10-0 run and quickly put the game out of reach.

After starting the season 0-3, the 76er’s were able to re-group and finished the season winning 10 of their last 12 games (including the tournament games) while averaging nearly 40 points per game and holding their opponents to approximately 25 points per game. 

“The kids never stopped trying their hardest. They practiced their individual and team skills and came together as a TEAM. We are very proud of them,” gushed Coach Morgan.

“This is a tremendous achievement for our young league,” said Terry O’Hara, Willow Glen NJB’s president. “Many of these second, third and fourth grade boys were in their first year of organized basketball. NJB provides a positive community based basketball experience for kids.” For more information on the WGNJB program, contact Coach O’Hara at terry@willowglennjb.com or call 592-3041.