Kiwanis Club of Santa Maria Valley hosted the 26th annual Central Coast Basketball Spectacular on April 9 at Nipomo High School, and the event was, once again, a big hit.
The bona fide all-star game brought together the top high school seniors—boys and girls— from teams all over Northern Santa Barbara County, and squared them against the top players from San Luis Obispo County.
“It gives the seniors a chance to play one last game,” said Gary Prober, the game’s organizer for the Kiwanis Club. “For the most part, they’ve been playing against all the other kids in their county, and here, they get a chance to play with each other.”
For the first time in six years, both boys’ and girls’ South teams defeated the North teams. The South girls prevailed 70-60 behind MVP Devan McCune’s (Cabrillo High School) 19 points, eight rebounds, and five steals, and Rylee Sager’s (Lompoc High School) 15 points and seven rebounds.
The North team played with only six girls, but they had a significant advantage in height. Three of the North’s players were taller than any of the girls on the South team, according to South coach Randy Stanford.
“We broke their streak,” laughed Stanford, who also coaches girls’ basketball at Valley Christian Academy. “Because the North had only six kids on their roster, that played to our advantage. The goal was to wear them out with our speed, and we did.”
The boys’ game was a fast-paced, high-scoring duel resulting in a 105-96 victory for the South. Game MVP Torey Sims (Lompoc) dazzled the crowd with 31 points, while Chris Hinojos (Righetti High School), Ros Preciado (Santa Ynez High School), and Luke Nichols (Valley Christian Academy) pitched in solid contributions in points and rebounds.
North coach Eliot Davis (Lompoc) was especially happy to see his former star player put in a memorable performance.
“It’s great to see one of your kids have a great game,” Davis said. “To shine bright in that kind of moment, was a great moment for [Sims] and his family.”
All of the proceeds from the game are set to go toward a youth sports fund that helps children in the Good Samaritan After School Program participate in youth sports by paying for their expenses.
“We look at [the Basketball Spectacular] as a community service,” Prober said. “It pays for registration, fees, equipment—whatever is needed—so the Good Samaritan kids can participate in sports. These are kids who aren’t able to play sports unless they are subsidized.”
Coach Stanford told the Sun that the Kiwanis’ annual game is embraced by the sports community. Everybody enjoys the experience of honoring and uniting the county’s basketball players, and people also recognize the great work being done in the community by the Kiwanis Club as a result.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Stanford said. “The crowd was really good. The kids really enjoyed playing together. It’s a fitting way for a lot of these girls to end their playing career. For a lot of these kids, it’s the last competitive basketball they’ll probably play. This is the last hurrah.
“Kiwanis does a great job with the game,” he concluded. “And they do a lot of great work in the valley.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Apr 14-21, 2016.