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Finishing off an extraordinary season, the Hollister Basketball Jones U14 team took the title at the June 13-15 A.C.E.S. Coca-Cola Nationals in Anaheim.
The local team competed in the Gold Bracket Championship against 16 teams, the toughest of the seven divisions offered in their age group. It was the squad’s seventh consecutive tournament victory, with only a single game lost throughout the entire season.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for these kids,” said Hollister head coach David Kaplansky. “These were some of the toughest teams we’ve played since we’ve been together as a group.”
Hollister won its first tournament of the season, the March 22-23 Oakland NorCal Preview, by going undefeated in five games. In April, the team won the Battle of the Beach tournament in the eighth-grade bracket and then challenged itself by competing in the junior varsity bracket as well. They took it by winning all six games.
“We played some of these at a JV level to get ready for the national tournaments,” Kaplansky said. “I wanted them to feel uncomfortable in those games so they had to grow.”
Kaplansky’s son, Reese, who the coach considers one of the team’s better defensive players, said the team welcomed the chance to compete at a higher level.
“We needed to see how good we were,” Reese said. ”I thought it was going to be a huge challenge and we were going to lose some games, but we ended up winning every one.”
In April, they also participated in the GBA Tournament in Salinas, winning again by going undefeated in five games in the JV bracket. This game was Azariah Girma’s favorite of the season.
“I had around 18 points,” he said. “I was playing locked on, and I wasn’t missing. Our teamwork, our chemistry, is really, really good, and we just played off each other well.”
Hollister returned to the eighth-grade bracket in May for the Alicia Renee Anderson Memorial Tournament in Oakland, where the locals won all three of their games. Over Memorial Day weekend, they won in the Silver bracket of the three-day “Jam on It” National Tournament in Reno by winning all five games.
The team’s final tournament in Anaheim started on June 13 with a 43-30 victory against the Sacramento 96ers. Then the locals had their only loss the next day, a 45-44 game against Arizona Unity that hinged on a tip-in with about 10 seconds remaining.
Rollins Bastien was caught by surprise by the defeat.
“The season went very well and I didn’t think we would lose,” he said. “But Arizona was a very good team and they were coached really well.”
A 37-25 win the same day against the San Francisco Champions Elite placed the local team in the top bracket playoff, providing a chance to win the championship.
Coach Kaplansky said the entire final day of the tournament was intense, with every game coming against a top-notch competitor where every possession mattered.
Hollister’s first game was against Marin’s North Bay Basketball Academy, and the team was down by 10 points with about 3:30 left in the game. But a three-pointer by Rudy Lopez gave them the lead in the last 10 seconds, handing them a 27-26 win.
Kaplansky said it was the toughest game of the season.
“It was a defensive battle,” he said. “Two similar teams. They had a great team with excellent ball movement. It was a big win to start off the quarterfinals.”
The next game was against the Reno Hype, which had won the top bracket in the Mountain West regional tournament two weeks before its hometown event. A tough, physical game ended with Hollister winning 39-33.
The championship game was a welcome rematch with Arizona Unity, and Kaplansky said that it was an intense battle that came down to the players’ pure skills.
“The kids had to execute,” he said. “They had to dig in defensively every possession and do all the little things properly. They had to dig in defensively every possession. All three games on Sunday were just top-notch competition.”
Kaplansky credited three players as essential to the victory. He described Bastien, at 6-foot-3, as a fantastic basketball player who provided the team with “true big size under the basket,” and was a “legitimate shot blocker.”
Basitan won MVP for the season, but credits the team’s skill over his own accomplishments on the court.
“We are very good as shooters,” he said, “but more importantly, we play a lot of good team defense. We rotate very well. We can switch through multiple defenses, which is the main part of our game.”
Kaplansky said Lopez has talent that is unprecedented at his age. He is the team’s leading scorer, a strong rebounder and was a close second for MVP.
Kaplansky also noted that Cadence Smith, the son of football coach Bryan Smith, is the team’s best athlete and all-around player.
“He is definitely the captain of the team,” he said. “He’s our vocal leader and brings a strong confidence to our team when it comes to leadership. He’s a ‘coach’s kid’ and plays the right way.”
Smith’s favorite game was the last one of the final tournament, the rematch against Arizona Unity.
“Every kid on that team was tall,” he said, “and every kid could shoot the ball well. We were able to play defense against them and hustled for every rebound. They were tough, but we came through to beat them.”
According to Kaplansky, the team’s players have begun the next step in their development as players, spending the summer practicing, conditioning, and preparing for their spots on one of the Hollister High School basketball teams next season.
“These guys are going to have a bright future in the game,” Kaplansky said. “Their strongest asset is their teamwork, and when they all come together next year, they will showcase those characteristics. I’m just excited for them to mesh into the program.”
The winning team with their fathers. Courtesy of David Kaplansky. 
Rollins Bastien. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Cadence Smith. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Cadence Smith. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Azairah Girma. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Jordan Garza Sanchez. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Reece Kaplansky. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Five members of the team with Coach David Kaplansky. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Hollister Basketball Jones Team roster
No. 1 Jordan Garza Sanchez *
No. 3 Alex Harte
No. 10 Reece Kaplansky *
No. 11 Brody Cooke *
No. 12 Cadence Smith *
No. 20 Rudy Lopez Jr. *
No. 30 Azairah Girma *
No. 34 Rollins Bastien *
No. 45 Colton Dirks
* played in the Coca-Cola Tournament
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