Cali Starz Win Bay Area Sports Tournament

The Cali Starz Basketball Club(Fairfield, CA) Junior Varsity team, won the Bay Area Sports Tournament at Jesse Bethel High School(Vallejo, CA) today, going 2-0. They defeated the Mountain House Wolverines 51-45 to capture the crown, after beating Team Rampage(Vallejo, CA) 50-38. The Cali Starz were coached by Derrick Little, who is the former coach of Team Rampage's coach Brandon Bracy. Little coached the Vallejo Baytrotters back in 2002, where Brandon Bracy played shooting guard as a young fifth grader. Sunday these two would coach against each other, for the first time. The game was tight for the most part, but the Starz would make a game sealing 12-2 run, to defeat Team Rampage.

-Brandon Bracy

Team Rampage Playing In Vallejo Today

Team Rampage(Vallejo, CA) will be playing this sunday at Jesse Bethel. The 14 and under are playing at 11 and 1, and the battle of Vallejo between the 11 year olds will take place at 9am, with the Vallejo Future coached by AJ Slay, will play the Team Rampage 11 and under. The Team Rampage basketball club, started in 2015 with just one varsity team, coached by Vallejo High Alum Brandon Bracy. Today, Team Rampage has 6 different teams, with 3 of them being ranked in the top 10 in the Bay Area. The 8 and under age group, are currently ranked number one, on the entire west coast. The 11 and under are ranked number 9, while the 14 and under are ranked number 6, according to Bayareasports.org, and are ranked number 9 on indihoops.com. 

This comes within months of play. The 14 and under team are coaches by Brandon Bracy and assisted by another Vallejo High alum, Santana Esver. The 8 and under, and 11 and under are coached by Vallejo High alums as well, Alfonzo Hatten and Joseph Pastrana. The Team Rampage basketball club is directed by Antonio Hodges. Team Rampage is also looking for donations, to help cover uniforms, tournaments, equipment, and gym time. For more information on donations, contact the team director Antonio Hodges at (707) 655-2018.

Vallejo's Greg Smith Signs With Timberwolves

Former Fresno State forward Greg Smith, has signed a 10 day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves this week. Greg who last played for the Dallas Mavericks, has played for a few NBA teams, with his most time coming with the Houston Rockets. Smith saw starters minutes under Kevin McHale, before Dwight Howard signed to the Rockets. After Howard's signing, Smith's minutes would diminish, which would lead to the Rockets releasing him.

Smith is looking to keep a roster spot for the rest of the year with the Timberwolves, with future hall of famer Kevin Garnett, out with injuries. Smith played at Fresno State with NBA Superstar Paul George before making his way to the NBA. He would play his sophomore to senior year of high school in Fresno, California. Before moving to Fresno his sophomore year of high school, Greg grew up in Vallejo, California, attending Jesse Bethel high school his freshmen year with Denver Broncos running back and super bowl champion, CJ Anderson. Anderson and Smith are the same age, and actually grew up in North Vallejo together, attending Solano Middle School, before Jesse Bethel.

-Brandon Bracy

Team Rampage Hosting Varsity Tryouts

The Team Rampage Basketball Club(Vallejo, CA) will be hosting tryouts for high school varsity players. Tryouts will be on March 26th, from 10am-12pm, at Vallejo High School. There will also be a $10 tryout fee for participants. Coach Brandon Bracy is very excited for this year's group, especially with all of the success of the younger teams. Players that make the team, will have access to good quality training, play in high level tournaments, and get exposure and scouted by colleges.

A year ago, Team Rampage's first team ever would be the varsity team. That team would feature players from local high schools in the northern Bay Area. Those players would go on to have a lot of success this year with their schools. Coach Bracy hopes that he can have the same impact with this year's 2016 summer team. For More Information, contact him at (707) 816-1196.

-Brandon Bracy

Trammell Leads St. Ignatius to CCS Championship

Sophomore guard Darrion Trammell, led St. Ignatius with 18 points, and went 10 for 14 from the free-throw line. St. Ignatius(16-10) was also able to get help from Will Emery, Matt Redmond, and Brandon Beckman, who added 12 points each. Los Gatos found themselves down by double digits early, but made a run to cut the lead down to six.

After Los Gatos was able to make a run, St. Ignatius kept attacking the basket, and going to the free throw line. St. Ignatius went 25 for 31 from the free throw line, and was able to keep control and momentum of the game when Los Gatos made their run. With St. Ignatius beating Los Gatos 72-62, they will advance to play Leland(19-7) in the section final on Saturday.

-Brandon Bracy

The Roles Of Coaching

As a coach when you are trying to make your players better on and off the court, you become a mentor, father, brother, counselor, and more. Coaching at the younger levels such as elementary kids, coaches usually have a lot more parent support, which makes their job easier. However, once kids turn 13 or 14, the roles of a coach start to change, as the parent support becomes less as the kids get older. Once this happens a coach's job becomes tougher, due to the many different hats he or she has to put on.

Successful coaches take pride in wearing these different hats to help their players. Without digging in deep to help kids get more out of life and become successful, coaches fall behind and they don't get the trust out of the players they coach. Performing these tasks can be very difficult, due to the fact that coaches may have to put in overtime without pay, in order to go above and beyond for their players. Trying to make sure that the players are focused on basketball and not other distractions, while also performing their normal job as a basketball coach, can take a toll on anybody. However, all coaches must put in overtime in order to become a successful coach, and ultimately, run a successful program. The roles of a coach are the same for everybody, but what separates the good from the average, and the great from the good, is how well coaches perform these roles.

Brandon Bracy,
Team Rampage Head Coach and Trainer
American Canyon High School Varsity Boys Basketball Assistant Coach

Team Rampage Hosting Tryouts For Unsigned Seniors

The Team Rampage Basketball Club(Vallejo, CA), are hosting tryouts for unsigned seniors of Class of 2016. Tryouts will take place on March 7th, at 7:30PM at Vallejo Middle School. Team Rampage Head Coach and Trainer Brandon Bracy, is looking to help seniors get more exposure, by playing in NCAA Certified Tournaments, and also get film on players, to send out to colleges.

 Coach Bracy once went through the same situation, as a high school senior in 2009 at Vallejo High School, before eventually playing for Solano Community College(Suisun, CA) in 2010. After experiencing how tough making a college decision can be, coach Bracy is motivated to help young athletes prepare themselves for college. For those who are interested, contact Coach Bracy at (707) 816-1196 or Brandondemetrusbracy@yahoo.com.