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Health & Fitness

Margarita Middle Takes Championship

The champions and top scoring players from the basketball championship games.

This past Saturday, I found myself sitting in the stands at the alongside dozens of basketball fans.

It was championship day for the middle school league basketball teams. The spectators were made up of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers and friends of the players.

I was there to see my own daughter, an 8th grader for another day or so, on the court representing against .

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Margarita went into the championships with an undefeated record. They battled it out many weekends this spring and it paid off -- they made it the championship game!

The top scorers of the game were Sabrina Thompson with 11 points and Leitasi Cravens with 7 points, both from Margarita. The top scorer from VRMS was Leah Adame with 8 points. Both teams played hard, some players even fouled out of the game toward the end, but Margarita pulled ahead and stayed ahead to win the game with sportsmanship and grace. 

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After the players and coaches shook hands, each team came out to center court to receive their trophies. Coach Andy Thompson of Margarita allowed player Kendall Carper, the voice of the team, to announce each teammate and present them with a trophy and an enthusiastic hug. The girls were excited and proud of themselves but more proud of their effort as a team.

As parents we are proud of our children when they win a big game or do well on a report card but, at least for this parent, the smiles and joy really show when we watch a team of 8th grade girls jump up and down, congratulating each other with hugs and perhaps even a few happy tears.

We hope they learn the value of hard work paying off, the importance of practice, commitment and dedication, and how to win with dignity and pride.

That’s what we hope for, but let’s be honest here, at that moment, it’s all about how happy they were to be in the final game, win that game and celebrate with their friends, enjoying the moment and revel in being a kid.

There were several other games Saturday, and those games were equally exciting, some very close, so here are the top scorers and winners of all the teams in our valley.

The 6th grade boys from Temecula Middle School over Margarita Middle School with Cole Dubots and Bryce Denham scoring the most points for TMS and Michael Curley for MMS.

The 7th grade boys’ championship was won by Canyon Lake over with Nathaniel Dodson as the top scorer for CL and Travis Wilson for VAP. The 8th grade boys champion was over Menifee Valley. Michael Scott and Khrystopher Walton were top scorers for BVMS and DeMarco Prewitt, Malachi Davis and Preston Beverly hitting the most baskets for MVMS.

The JV girls from Margarita Middle School also won their game against with Damaris Macias and Julia Thompson as the top scorers.

Congratulations go out to every player who sweated it out on Saturday and every other player who played their heart out over the course of the 2011 TYBL Middle School League.

Come out and support youth sports next season; watch a game and cheer with the rest of the fans, you never know who may wind up playing in college and you can say “I saw that kid play when she was 14 years old…”

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