Placed in a Competitive Bracket, the ROCS Boys Play Together One Last Time-
The eighth grade boys surprised the northwest with a strong showing and finished second in the 53rd Annual Jaycees 8th Grade Boys Crescent City tournament.
In the first game, on Friday, March 3rd, River Oak played a team from Oregon called Siuslaw
Middle School. River Oak had a 17-11 lead at the end of one quarter. The Firebirds got things
worked out though. Even with the rocky start, ROCS outscored the opponent 30-14 through the next two quarters.The Firebirds finished out the game with a final score of 58-44 River Oak’s leading scorers in that game were; George Gibbs, with 21 points and Zach Martinez, with 16 points.
In the second game, on Saturday, March 4th at 11:30am, River Oak met Ferndale Middle
School. River Oak had another rough start. They only held a two point lead at the end of one
quarter. Yet again, the Firebirds stormed back into the game and took control. The Firebirds
played stifling defense allowing only 12 points the rest of the game. The final score was 47-22 and winning this game, sent the Firebirds to the championship game. The team was led by
Gibbs who had 14 points and Kaleo Olson, who had 13 against Ferndale.
In the championship game on Saturday, March 4th at 6:30pm, the Firebirds started out
explosive against St. Bernards. River Oak held a 10-2 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Then St. Bernards coach called a timeout to sort his team out. When play resumed, St.
Bernards was able to fight back into the game, unfortunately, and the score was tied 13-13 after one quarter.
River Oak continued to play hard, but St. Bernard's high percentage shooting led them to a 7
point lead at Halftime. In the third quarter River Oak played strong and aggressive, even taking a two point lead at one point in that quarter. Yet again, St. Bernard's accurate shooting gave them a 5 point lead heading into the fourth. ROCS tried to get back into the game, but the lead was too severe as the final horn sounded, River Oak lost the championship game 60-51.
“I think we could have played as a team better,” said Zach Martinez, finishing with 21 points,
after the loss “and just moved the ball up the court faster.”
Geogre Gibbs said; “They just had a really good team and really good outside shooters. We
could have also moved the ball better on offense”. Che Minz-Kammer, who led the team with 24 points, said; “They knew how to break our defense. When we went into a zone they broke it and when we went into a man [to man], they broke it”
Coach Rebekah Martinez said “ We were able to come out in a press in the first two games and we were able to do that at the beginning of the championship game, but foul trouble caused me to pull the press off and I think if we could have kept that press on onger the outcome may have been different.”
Later that evening, The 8th grade River Oak Firebirds were honored with the 2nd place trophy
and 3 tournament honorable mention awards for Zach Martinez, Che Minz-Kammer and Geo
Gibbs. Afterwards, Coach Martinez said, “Overall, I am extremely proud of how all of our boys played this weekend. We defied all kinds of odds. Playing successfully as a team in a tournament that gave us great competition. Our boys never gave up, and that is what matters most”.
-Kaleo Olson
