GLENDALE HEIGHTS REPORT
Lipenos Basketball League brought 6 teams to the 2009 FBA-NA Tournament held in Glendale Heights, Illinois. They were the 15 & Under Girls, Ladies, Midget, Juvenile, Men’s Open and Masters divisions. It was a good start to the weekend as our Muse, Crystal Petkau won FBA-NA Muse. Our ladies finished off in 3rd place and both the 15 & under girls and midget teams won 2nd place. Our Men’s Open team went undefeated for the weekend and capped it off winning back to back championship against Toronto in overtime. Ryan Capina was named MVP while Brad Naron won best forward, Prince Cayetano won best center and Eric Garcia won best guard. We would like to congratulate all our players and thank all the coaches and supporters.
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Josh Olaes
Pamilya/Pinsanz
Guard |
Josh
Olaes is a magician with the ball. He is quick and agile to
the basket often leaving his opponents in his tracks. It’s
no wonder he was MVP for the juvenile boys in the championship
game against Washington this past summer in Washington, DC
for the FBA Tournament. Josh has a string of accomplishments.
He was MVP for the Juvenile Division, rookie of the year for
the Men’s Open Division and selected as an All-Star
for the 2005-2006 LBL Inc. season. Josh played for Sisler
High School and won the 2006 Provincial Championship and earned
a spot on the graduating all-star team. He currently plays
for the Red River Rebels. He is taking civil engineering at
Red River College. Josh comes from a basketball family with
dad Willie Olaes and sisters Debbie and Ronalyn having played
as well.
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Eric Garcia
UMAC
Cargo
Guard
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2008 MVP FBA-NA JUVENILE
Although small in stature, Eric Garcia
has the heart of a champion. He has a string of accomplishments.
He joined the Lipenos Basketball League in 2004 with the introduction
of the Juvenile division and also played for the Men’s Open
division. He quickly made a name for himself earning him MVP honors
for the Juvenile division and Rookie of the Year for the Men’s
Open division for the 2004-2005 season. He followed it up the
next season winning the scoring champion and MVP for the Men’s
Open division in 2006. That year he led his team, the NC Idolz
to the championship. That was not the only team he led to the
championship. He also led his high school team, the Sisler Spartans
to the MHSSA “AAAA” Provincial Championship and was
awarded with MVP honors. Eric was ranked No. 3 basketball player
in the province and was recruited by the University of Manitoba
Bisons. He is in his 3rd year with the Bisons and is taking kinesiology
at U of M. In March of 2008, he led his current Lipenos team,
the UMAC Cargo Express to the championship and won MVP for the
playoffs. Eric has represented Winnipeg and the Lipenos Basketball
League at the FBA tournaments in the past 3 years. In those 3
years, as team captain, he and the Juvenile team have won all
3 tournaments. The past tournament played in Winnipeg, he won
MVP.
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They
say repeating is not easy to do. Bringing only 8 players to Washington,
the other teams thought they wouldn’t last the weekend and would
be quickly finished. But they surprised everyone and dominated the
game against host Washington for the championship game. Leading the
run and gun attack of the juvenile boys are Eric Garcia, Jonar Huertas
and Josh Olaes. They took Washington by storm and was up 20-0 in the
first half and never looked back. Josh Olaes played outstanding scoring,
rebounding and wowing the crowd to earn him MVP honors.
The
weekend started off rough with them forfeiting their first game against
Windsor due to bus problems forcing them to take the tough route to
the championship. They faced the defending champions Glendale Heights
in the semi’s and dominated the game to earn them a spot in
the finals for a showdown with Chicago. Chicago proved to be a tough
opponent and had the boys with their backs against the wall being
down the whole game. Quarterbacking the comeback was Eric Garcia and
Jonar Huertas overcoming the deficeit and taking the lead with a few
minutes left in the game. They closed the game winning by 10. Jonar
Huertas played big despite his small stature out rebounding and scoring
at will to earn him MVP honors. 
The
team started practices early and worked hard during the off season.
They only had one goal and that was to take home the championship
trophy. And they didn’t disappoint. They were focused and worked
together to have an undefeated record. The girls steam rolled their
way into the championship and dominated all aspects of the game against
Chicago. Casey Ignacio played outstanding and was chosen MVP.