Viking girls reach final of Borrego Springs Basketball Tournament

The seven small middle schools and K-8 elementary schools in northern San Diego County and southern Riverside County which participate in sports tournaments throughout the school year had a basketball tournament Feb. 13 in Borrego Springs, and Vallecitos Elementary School reached the girls' final.

The undersized Vikings lost to Warner Middle School in the Borrego Springs Basketball Tournament championship game to take second place in the tournament.

Borrego Springs Middle School does not have its own gymnasium but is next to Borrego Springs High School, so the games were played on the high school campus. The games utilized a running clock and lasted for 20 minutes with no halftime.

The Vallecitos boys' and girls' teams were given initial byes due to the travel distance between Rainbow and Borrego Springs. Although the seven schools also include Cottonwood Elementary School in Aguanga, Hamilton Elementary School in Anza and Warner Middle School in Warner Springs.

The girls overcame an 8-4 deficit to defeat Pauma in the Vikings' first game.

"We got a run of six points," Vallecitos coach Ray Hanbeck said.

Eighth grader Cheyenne Crowe, who scored the Vikings' first four points, also scored the next four points for Vallecitos. In the final minute of the game, eighth grader Petrona Alvaro placed a shot into the net to give the Vikings a 10-8 victory.

"I think it was great that they were able to come back after being down by four points. They were able to stay focused and do what needed to be done to go ahead," Hanbeck said.

Warner, which consists of seventh-grade and eighth grade students, won the championship with a 16-4 victory in the final against Vallecitos.

"The Warner girls were able to take advantage of their height," Hanbeck said.

Crowe and sixth grader Berenice Yanez each scored two points against the Wildcats.

"The girls played well, especially the first game, and they were competitive in the second game until halfway through," Hanbeck said.

The Vallecitos team consisted of 16 girls, although not all saw action in the tournament. The team included five eighth graders and three seventh graders along with eight younger girls.

The Vikings had nine boys at the Borrego Springs Basketball Tournament consisting of three eighth graders, two seventh graders, two sixth graders, one fifth grader and one fourth grader. The boys began with a 17-5 loss to Pauma.

"We were competitive for a while at the beginning of the game," Hanbeck said. "Pauma started to get more points and get more rebounds."

Sixth grader Jordan Anicete scored six points against the Bobcats, sixth grader Andres Rivera added four points, seventh grader Andres Yanez had two points and eighth grader Rodrigo Anaya contributed four points.

"We were able to score some on them," Hanbeck said.

The Vallecitos boys played Warner next.

"They had the taller kids," Hanbeck said.

The height disadvantage didn't keep the Vikings from making an effort against the Wildcats.

"They were competitive until halfway," Hanbeck said.

Warner, which took third place among the boys, was on the desired end of the 17-5 final score. Yanez scored three of the Vikings' points and Anicete placed the other two Vallecitos points into the net.

Contingent upon favorable weather the next competition for Vallecitos and the other schools will be the cross-country meet Hamilton will host March 12.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected]