The Willow Glen National Junior Basketball Association third-fourth grade boys team won the Silicon Valley district tournament. The district features teams from as far away as Redwood City and Hollister.

Having won that tournament, the Willow Glen team earned the right to continue to Los Angeles to play other all-star teams from around the country. That tourney was played last weekend in Irvine.

The sectional tournament took place over two weeks due to spring break, and the Willow Glen kids won all five of their games.

"These guys gave up their spring break to practice," said head coach Mike Riley. "They've really had fun learning about the fast break and the fundamentals of basketball. I wouldn't be surprised if we were reading about these guys and their basketball exploits once they get to high school. They're all really good players."

Willow Glen met Redwood City in the final game of the tournament played at the San Jose Academy. Willow Glen jumped out to an early lead that helped them clinch a 48-37 victory.

Kevin Cali nailed two quick shots from outside the arc to help to the locals get out to a 10-point lead. Austin Hatfield and Evan Aylsworth used their skills to help control the tempo of the game, while Jimmy Riley--the only third grader on the team--and Jack O'Hara pulled down the boards.

The game remained fast-paced throughout, but Matthew Pinheiro stayed right in it with some quality defense. Marquis Onorato also helped out with some rebounds for Willow Glen.

"Redwood City is traditionally the strongest NJB chapter," said Riley.

The semifinal game proved to be difficult for Willow Glen when the local boys faced an aggressive Palo Alto team. But Willow Glen was up to the challenge and came away from the contest with its fourth straight win, 33-30.

O'Hara led the team with 11 points against Palo Alto, while Hatfield had eight. Aylsworth helped the team with strong rebounding under the net late in the game and even hit a jumper with three minutes left to give Willow Glen the lead after trailing the majority of the game.

Danny Schatzman and Graham Moore played strong defense that kept Palo Alto from scoring in the last two minutes of the game.

The first three games were big wins for Willow Glen. The kids outscored their opponents by more than 100 points, defeating Almaden in the first round 54-33 and then besting two teams from Saratoga, 64-17 and 60-27.

The nationals in Southern California were to consist of 16 teams from all over the western United States.