Youth Basketball Squad Takes Second in Sweden

A youth basketball team composed mainly of Orange County athletes took second place in a tournament Monday night at Stockholm, Sweden.

A U.S. team had never reached the final game of the Scandic Cup tournament, said Coach Paul Hoover, coach at Marina High School. The U.S. team, led by Marina’s Cherokee Parks, lost to Kalev, a team from Estonia, 125-97, Monday night in the title game.

Parks, who will be a senior at Marina this fall, was named most valuable player of the championship game and tournament. The 6-foot-11 center averaged 39.5 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks per game. He had 44 points in the final game and shot 70% from the field.

Forward Dan Bathey, who will be a junior at Santa Margarita High, was a first-team all-tournament selection. He averaged 20.5 points and four rebounds.

“There were no age groups, so we played against 23-, 24-, 25-year-old guys, and Swedish teams that played year-round,” Hoover said.

The nine-player team, which also had players from the Sacramento area, practiced only three times before the opening game, and went 8-3 in the tournament.