Four teams get chance to show off their talent and skills in
first annual tournament
Morgan Hill – The Sobrato Bulldogs boys basketball will be hosting the first annual Bulldog Chase Tournament on Thursday and Friday and hopes the tournament can help establish their program here in Morgan Hill.
Mesa Verde, Evergreen Valley and Greenfield accepted invitations to join Sobrato in the first ever tournament. Next year the Bulldogs hope to grow their tournament to eight teams for a deeper competitive pool.
“We decided to host a tournament because we want the exposure for our program,” said Bulldogs coach Lawrence Crawford. “I noticed Live Oak wasn’t hosting a tournament this preseason and I thought if they don’t have an established tournament, let’s start our own.”
Mesa Verde kicks off the tournament against Evergreen Valley at 6pm on Thursday. Sobrato and Greenfield follow at 7:30pm. On Friday, the losers of both game ones face each other for the third place game at 6pm, followed by the winners of both game ones facing each other for the tournament championship at 7:30pm.
“It’s great to have teams from all over the Bay Area. We have a team coming all the way from the Sacramento area,” said Crawford. “I’m really appreciative that they’re coming down. It brings more flavor to the competition and is a way to test the level of competition in other leagues. We’re in the TCAL and we know its a tough league, but we wouldn’t want a tournament with all teams from the TCAL, we already face those teams twice each season.”
According to Crawford, Sobrato hopes to create a tradition with the Bulldog Chase and it was planned for this week because the kids are out of school and anyone who might be looking for some entertainment can come out and watch two games of entertaining basketball for about $5.
If done correctly a tournament can raise some much needed funds for the program.
“I would love for our town to embrace high school sports, especially basketball,” said Crawford, who also mentioned he is going to be doing his best to establish Sobrato’s boys basketball program as long as he is around.
The Bulldogs have had one week of rest since their last game and Crawford said he tries to change things up in practice when they have a lot of down times between games.
“We have a couple of things we bring out so they don’t get bored,” said Crawford. “We run some new plays for a little excitement and to keep them focused.”
Crawford stresses that he doesn’t like to break things down into just wins and loses. He said the ultimate goal of the Sobrato team is to win the first ever tournament they are hosting, but he said it’s more important to recognize that they are developing these young men who will be legal adults soon,
And they’re not just developing basketball skills, these young men are learning things they will take with them for the rest of their lives. Lessons about perseverance, struggles, disappointment, compromise and dignity.
“My expectation of the tournaments that it will be a tough tournament,” said Crawford. “We’ll be competitive and have just as good of a chance as any of the other teams of winning it all.”
The Bulldogs take a 4-6 preseason record into the tournament on Thursday and would love to emerge with a winning record when the first annual Bulldog Chase is over and done.
