Newport Lightning 5th Grade Black Team wins big

The Newport Lightning Basketball Club continued its dominance in big tournaments this fall by winning the SGV Aloha Classic Gold Division last weekend in Anaheim.

The NLBC 11U/Fifth-grade team beat Impact, SNU Showtime and Baseline To Baseline in pool play to advance into the semifinals where it beat a game Jr. Hoops team to get back into the finals.

Once again the NLBC boys faced SNU Showtime, who played a great game against the NLBC, but the Lightning prevailed with a 38-26 victory, capping a great weekend of hoops.

This tournament championship marked the sixth championship in the last seven tournaments for the NLBC 11U Black team. The Lightning won the prestigious ACES Coca Cola Classic, SPAAU DIII Nationals, Swoosh Extravaganza, Focus World Championships and Jr. Hoops Season Opener and placed second in the Open Gym/WCE Elite 25 Tournament.

The team features: Vanis Buckholz, Asher Hamilton, Adam Garza, Luke Barnes, Tommy Griffin, Hunter Schimmelpfennig, Levi Darrow, Austin Clark and Tyler Li. The team is coached by Jeff Hamilton and Joe Schimmelpfennig.

— Reader submission