The Gil Basketball Academy(GBA) held their 3rd annual All-Salinas invitational basketball tournament featuring 89 of California’s elite teams on April 23 and 24. The GBA Slam showcased athletes from 2nd grade up to high school, with teams from south Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area.  

The tournament was held at all four Salinas high school gyms and two middle schools. The GBA  All-Salinas Slam is a fundraiser for all GBA select travel AAU teams. For most teams, the All Salinas Slam was their first games of the travel basketball season. “Our tournament is mainly for the kids and letting them play. It’s also a big fundraiser to kick off the season and help pay for future tournaments,” said GBA founder Jose Gil. “GBA is completely non-profit in that all help is from volunteers and all funds go back to the kids,” added Gil.

The age divisions were shared at each school gym site. Games started at eight o’clock and ended at 4. Each game had two 20 minute halves, 3 timeouts each half. Most brackets had one consolation game for teams not ranked in the top four. The tournament featured upsets and blow-outs. Two consolation games in the 8th grade boys bracket ended in blowouts. Three GBA select teams finished their host tournament with three championships, 9th, 8th, and 6th grade boys.

The championship game for 4th graders came down to the wire in the last minutes of the second half. GBA had been up by 15 points entering the second half of the game, dominating on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. With 7 minutes left in regulation, HDMD star shooter Anthony Nunez made three back to back three pointers. Cutting their deficit to six. GBA’s captain and point guard, Jalen Brown, attacked the basket four times in a row but was unable to draw a foul, as a result HDMD scored four fast break points. Coach Gil called a timeout to interrupt the momentum of HDMD. GBA re-entered the game with a smaller lineup, four guards and one center. All shooters, GBA shot 60% to secure an eight point victory. Key defensive plays and last minute fouls for possession helped GBA take the All-Salinas Slam 4th grade championship. “The boys stepped up and made key defensive plays. You practice how you play,” said Coach Brown.

Vincent Gonzales, the 9th grade GBA select point guard believes his team did well and hopes to play at the same pace in future tournaments, “As team we play really well together. This tournament was our first real game so we saw what we need to improve on for our next tournaments.”

Overall, five GBA teams teams won a championship. The boys’ GBA varsity team, featuring Alisal senior guard and league MVP Jessy Hurtado and his brother Renee Hurtado, got 2nd place behind the North Monterey County Magic. Coach Gil’s 6th and 9th grade boys each won the championship by 8 points. Josue Gil helped lead the 9th grade boys to 15 point victories throughout the tournament. “They’re getting better so quick it’s almost scary. Once basketball season starts next year they’re going to be so experienced,” said Coach Gil. “88 teams attended this year and we’re expecting nearly 100 next year. It was the biggest tournament ever in this area.”

Other Bay Area teams had a successful first tournament to kick off the travel ball season. The North Monterey County Rebels had four teams attend the tournament and one compete in the championship game. OJBA (Orlando Johnson Basketball Academy), another well known competitive travel ball organization, also took home two championships. Their varsity girls went undefeated for four games and won the championship game by 15.