Yesterday, eight cities in the Sacramento Region (Elk Grove, Sacramento, West Sacramento, Rocklin, Roseville, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and Folsom) met face to face to determine who the TRUE basketball champs of the Sacramento Region are! Captained by an elected official from each city, teams consisted of 6 local celebrities and community leaders (4 men and 2 women) and were coached by a JumpStart 21 former foster youth. Proceeds from the event will fund internship scholarships for graduates from the JumpStart 21 Emancipating Foster Youth Program.

The Elk Grove team was captained by Mayor Steve Detrick and he hand crafted a team of local celebrities: former NFL wide receiver and owner of AVD Going Vertical, Alex Van Dyke, Professional Water Skier Brian Detrick, former WNBA and Sacramento Monarch’s guard Ruthie Bolton, News 10’s Dan Elliott, Pro Water Skier Daniel Goldman and former UCSB guard and Sac High Coach Jessica Wilson. Mayor Detrick was unable to attend the event. He left the country to Concepción de Ataco, El Salvador, where he is visiting as part of an aid campaign for Elk Grove’s flood-damaged sister city. Vice Mayor Jim Cooper stepped in as Captain. Our JumpStart 21 former foster youth coach was James.

It was half court, 3 on 3 basketball and the games were 15 minutes. 1 female player had to be on the court at all times.

The day started with a practice/warm up and then it was game time. We drew Rocklin in the first round of Elite 8. We got off to a quick start with Alex Van Dyke hitting a quick three. Then the scoring continued with myself down low in the post and Jessica Wilson hitting 3’s from the outside. We were surprised how well the chemistry was since it was our first time playing together. Ruthie Bolton, Dan Elliot and Daniel Goldman came in off the bench and continued where we left off, dominating. We won 35-12 and advanced to the Final 4.

In the Final 4, we were matched up against West Sacramento. Everyone on the team contributed and we won 35-13 to advance to the Championship game. Our defense was very good as we held our first two opponents to less than 1 point per minute.

We faced Sacramento in the Finals. This is the team we knew was going to be a team to beat from the beginning. They had Danielle Viglione, former WNBA and Sacramento Monarchs player. They also had 2 other women who played collegiately and professional. Unfortunately, 22 seconds into the game, Danielle Viglione went down after getting a rebound. She might have torn her achilles. I hope Danielle has a fast recovery. This changed the atmosphere but after 10 minutes, the game resumed. It went back and forth and then we took the lead and went up by 6 points. Like the previos two games, we played excellent defense. When all was said and done, we beat Sacramento 33-23 to win the 2011 JumpStart 21 Regional Celebrity Basketball Tournament.

It was a great event and I know our team had a lot of fun. Everyone said they definitely want to play next year. We will be back to defend our title for ELK GROVE!!! But the event wasn’t about us and the true winners in the game are the youth in the Jumpstart 21 program. From the event, the Sacramento Asian Chamber of Commerce was able to NET over $35,000 to provide internships and life skills training for emancipated foster youth.

For more photos from the event, click here

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Elk Grove Force wins Jumpstart 21 Hoops and Alley Oops Tournament