Saratoga News National junior basketball season begins in Saratoga The fifth season of Saratoga National Junior Basketball got under way last weekend with the 240 players shooting and rebounding their way through the first game of a 10-game season that runs through Feb. 21. Twenty-one teams of boys and girls in grades 3-8 compete against each other and teams from the surrounding communities. In addition, 30 second-graders play in a noncompetitive clinic program. Teams are either comprised of all boys or all girls. "NJB is an excellent way to develop basketball skills, good sportsmanship and team competition," said Paul Zebb, city director. "And this year we are pleased to announce that Saratoga will have its first all-net teams for boys in sixth, seventh and eighth grades who want to play at a more competitive level." Tryouts were held for each of the 10-person all-net teams. The selected players are: Sixth grade: Ben Coggins, Jon Durket, T.J. Florence, Bryan Frager, Scott Newberry, Jack Prentice, Mike Sample, Tom Sekula, Blaze Silberman and Joe Welch. The head coach is Matt Durket and the assistant coach is Neil Frager. Seventh grade: Billy Anderson, Cameron Askew, Chris Charles, Reilly Grellas, Greg Henderson, Philip Hsia, Terry Johnson, Jason Lo, Ryan Newberry and Tyler Rothenberg. The head coach is Earl Charles and the assistant coach is Jerry Askew. Eighth grade: Matt Ashburn, Chris Barrett, Marc Crosby, Jonathan D'Sa, Taj Kawahara, Michael Kenyon, Matt Lazares, Tyler Mariucci, Aritoki Suzuki and Frank Wallace. The head coach is Matt Crosby and the assistant coach is Bill Wallace. NJB Saratoga is open to boys and girls in grades 2-8 who live in Saratoga. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.