The YBOA Alamo City All-Stars hosted the Halloween Fest Invitational and some standouts deserve some recognition:
Olivia Balderas( SA Hustlers)- The 2017 guard is nice! She is the rare young kid that possesses ball handling and body swag to accompany it. She moves defenders with her head , shoulders and eyes. This enables her to set defenders up for her tight handle. Her go to move is a nasty hesitation dribble that freezes defenders. She counters the "hezzo" with a hard cross over that leaves defenders left standing still. On top of a handle with swag, Balderas can shoot the 3 ball, off of the dribble! In the face of defenders! She's real, a Box & 1 kid that has a bright future.
Demi Colon( Da Bomb/2017)- Colon has been on the radar for a while but know must be respected as one of the most talented pups in the city. She is long guard with very good instincts and plays with the street ball flare of a girl who plays with and against boys often. She does things like jumps to pass, while not the most fundamental thing to do, it helps her create opportunities to set up her teammates very well. She plays under control and has added a deft runner from 8-12 feet. Her arms and legs seem to go on for days. Defensively, she is an aggressive ball hawking defender that times her on-ball steals like a seasoned veteran. Her name will ring out at South San HS in a few years!
Tony Cuellar(SA Finest/2018)- Cuellar put on a show with a display of mid-range jumpers, forays to the rack, and coast to coast set ups for her teammates. The smooth lefty was a zone buster all tournament with huge jumpers from the high post. She rebounds well and has the ability to lead the break. Cuellar has the advanced ability to finish lay ups outside her body with an assortment of baby hooks, finger rolls and timely scoops.
Roland Perez- The head coach of "Da Bomb" is one of many club coaches that live for the weekends. He reportedly is coach, driver, trainer, financial supporter and father figure to many of his players. Anyone that has seen "Da Bomb" since it's inception has seen the progression of his kids. Coach Perez should be applauded. He is the kind of guy that reminds all of us why we got into girls basketball. Coach Perez is not paying for 6 foot 5th graders to play in a hopes of earning props for winning AAU National Championships. He does not have a website to broadcast how many D1 kids he has in his stable, in a pursuit of a shoe contract or personal glory. He wakes up on Sunday mornings and coaches 8am games for a lot of kids that will use basketball as a constructive activity to be productive. Kudos Coach! Thanks for the slice of humble pie, a lot of us need it!
