By Special to Town Crier
The Rim Rockers, a Los Altos-based 17-and-under boys traveling basketball team formed in 1995, has a new look this season, according to coach Wulf Schrader.
“This year we have a very different team,” Schrader said. “We’ve added some height.”
That height has come in handy when the Rim Rockers have faced big teams in tournaments such as the adidas MatsMadness Invitational in Fresno. MatsMadness, held over Memorial Day weekend, featured some of the best traveling teams on the West Coast.
“We played in two tournaments in the spring before going to Fresno and we’ve improved with each game,” Schrader said. “At Fresno we faced two teams from Los Angeles and one from Sacramento in pool play. In the tournament round we faced a talented team from the San Jose area. The H-Squad and The LA Rockfish, our first two opponents were two of the toughest teams we’ve ever played against. The number of skilled young talented players in this tournament far outnumbered the talent at the previous tournaments.”
Most of the Rim Rocker players will play on their school’s varsity teams next winter. For many, this off-season will be their last chance to hone their skills before their final high school season.
“The addition of veteran coaching in the form of Earl White, Sr., helped us tremendously,” added Schrader. “Coach White is a great teaching coach and has valuable experience to impart to this group. Our improvement as a unit is a credit to his expertise. This is a particularly hard time at this level of play, where we have constant demands on the players’ time away from the court. SAT test preparation, school proms, driver training, summer school, preparation for college, they all cut into practice times and make scheduling difficult.”
In addition to MatMadness the Rim Rockers also participated in the ARC Basketbrawl Tournament in Menlo Park and the Surf City Shootout in Santa Cruz. Summer plans include the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas in late July.
After playing such a tough spring schedule, coach Schrader expects even greater things from his team in July and August.
“MatsMadness was great preparation for the summer,” he said.
Players on this year’s Rim Rockers attend schools such as Los Altos, Wilcox, Bellarmine, St. Francis, Tennyson, Sacred Heart Cathedral and North Valley Baptist.
The team consists of Maurice Burrell, Ryan Groves, Danny Hoppe, Anthony Hooker, Scott Jaw, Erol Kalafat, Justin Marshall, Matt Mocherman, George O’Neil, brothers Billy and Jake Pignanello, Afshin Rahimi, Michael Sage, Ian Sangster and John Schrader.
Schrader said. “When you weren’t playing, you were watching some serious competition between the 64 best teams on the West Coast.”
