The following article was submitted by the Burbank Raptors club program-
On April 6 and 7 the Burbank Raptors 5th/6th Grade team comprised of nine local student-athletes took the floor in Compton for the SCMAF Open “B” Division Championships. SCMAF is the Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation which governs youth basketball, flag football and volleyball among others since 1959 for the state of California.
In order for the Raptors to qualify, they first participated in the local Burbank Park and Recreation youth basketball league here in town. They finished the season with an undefeated record (an unprecedented fourth straight year doing so) and were then given the honor to represent Burbank in the SCMAF Tournaments.
The first SCMAF Tournament is the Regionals, where Burbank competed in the San Gabriel Valley Chapter amongst other cities such as Glendora, La Verne, El Monte, Arcadia, Duarte, South El Monte, Diamond Bar, Temple City, Pasadena and many others, not to mention the host of the event which was Azusa.
The tournament for Regionals took place from Saturday March 23 through March 29 on a Friday night at Memorial Park in Azusa.
Since this tournament coincided with spring breaks for our student-athletes, we were limited to just seven players for each of the three Regional games.
On Saturday March 23 it was Burbank vs. Temple City. This turned out to be our toughest game of the tournament and was largely in part to the fact that it was a rematch of the 2011 Championship. The Raptors won 37-34 to advance to the semifinals vs. host Azusa.
This was another win for Burbank as the Raptors moved on with a 48-32 victory.
The Championship was on a Friday night and was vs. Pasadena. The gym was loud for this one and I think they assumed it was going to be a similar result to their previous game in which they had won by 21 points. But they did not have an answer for us in the first half.
Burbank opened up an early eight point lead in the first quarter which eventually ballooned into a 27 point 38-11 lead at halftime. The final score was a lot closer, but the important part was that the Burbank Raptors were the champions, 58-44.
2011 and now 2013 Regional Champions!
The following weekend on April 6-7 we traveled down to Leuders Park in Compton for the SCMAF OPEN DIVISION Championships.
The Raptors path to the Championship started with Perris Park from Perris and a team called the Downey Ballhogs. After defeating Perris 48-11 and Downey 42-33, the semifinals were set. Pasadena vs. Inglewood and Burbank vs. Norco. After we took care of business vs. Norco (67-8) we were set to have a rematch with Pasadena but Inglewood had other plans and won by 20.
Both teams had improved and both teams were ready to be named champions. After a 9-8 lead entering the second quarter, the Raptors struggled for the rest of the half falling behind by as many as nine points. To start the 3rd quarter, Inglewood scored first and this was the only time all tournament we trailed by more than 10 points.
But it was all Burbank from there. We went on two different runs in the third quarter that first forced a timeout, and then we went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter where we hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game.
The final 10 minutes showed just how Burbank was able to come back and win this one and get to a championship in the first place, execution. Inglewood pressed and pressed, and we continually beat it, scored on fast breaks or slowed it down when the time as right.
When the final whistle blew it was 48-40 Burbank – your 2013 SCMAF Regional & Open Division Champions.
An entire season being undefeated (for the fourth time in our local city league, and for the second time in which we swept through both SCMAF Tournaments).
Burbank Raptors results:
3rd grade: Burbank Regional 3rd Place – Division C
4th grade: Regional and Open Champions – Division C
5th grade: Regional Runners Up – Division B
6th grade: Regional and Open Champions again – Division B
Division C – 3rd/4th, Division B 5th/6th, Division A – 7th/8th
They are impressive young men. The 5th/6th grade 2013 team members are Jalen Clark, Dennis Flowers, Justin DeSales, Caleb Davis, Kalam Park, Miles Englis, Jonas Holt, Tyrese Willis and Bryce Whitaker.
For more information, the Burbank Raptors can be reached at www.burbankraptors.com
