Best Basketball Team in Bonita History (26-4) Honored at Hillcrest Sports Banquet

Jordan Butler carted home the Steve Sly Award on Monday night.

After all the summer league games and practices, all the stadium steps and weight-lifting, all the pre-season games, all the league games, and all the playoffs, the Bonita varsity basketball team, which tied the school record for most wins in a season (26-4), finally got to sit down for dinner. On Tuesday night, they were joined at the season-ending sports banquet at the Hillcrest Meeting House by Bonita’s up-and-coming junior varsity and freshman squads, which also enjoyed fine years.

Head varsity coach Greg Eckler highlighted the varsity’s phenomenal year. “These guys here tied the school record for most wins,” Eckler said to the proud parents beaming in the audience. “What they accomplished was amazing, 26-4, 12-0 in league, the third round in the playoffs.

“Only two teams in the school’s history have done that. Of the 26 wins, we beat 19 of those teams by 20 points or more.”

Team MVP and two-time First Team All-CIF performer James Northup led the team in scoring, averaging 16.1 points a game. He also led the team in steals and assists. Also averaging double digits at 13.9 points per game was Jordan Butler, winner of the team’s Steve Sly award.

Scholar athletes included Matt Admao, Garrett Pendleton, Zach Brungard, Jordan Butler and Scott Fassas.

Coach Eckler handled the mike as well as James Northup handles the basketball.

All League awardees included: Garrett Pendleton – 2nd team; Scott Fassas – 2nd team; Jordan Butler – 1st team; and James Northup – 1st team and Hacienda League MVP.

Coaches’ Awards:

Scott Fassas – Most Improved. “He made incredible strides throughout his career; I was so impressed with him,” Eckler said.

James Northup – Team MVP. “We were able to do a lot of things we did because of him,” Eckler said. “He’s under control, making good decisions, making acrobatic shots around the rim. He deserves it.”

Jordan Butler – Steve Sly Award. “It goes to a kid who is a leader, who works hard. The winner can be a great player or just a great kid. Every mile we ran, every suicide we ran, he wants to win, he wants to be first. Every drill we do, he’s diving on the floor. Once he chipped a tooth, diving for a ball. I loved watching him play this year.”

JV Coaches Steve Morris and Mark Shores finished the season with an outstanding 16-6 and 9-3 Hacienda League mark. Players on the team included: Patrick Barnes, Riley Brungard, Aaron Burgett, Garrett Chow, Karlik Clayton, Anthony Digirolamo, Joey Hubbard, Billy Karim, Brad Ko, Bryan Mahood (who also lettered on the varsity), Adam McPheeters, Jeff Nelson, Eric Olivares and Josh Resendez.

Freshman coach Mark Miller handled Master of Ceremonies duties, so naturally he introduced his freshman team first (it’s also a tradition). The team was composed of Hugo Alvarez, Drew Biernacki, Jacob Broussard, Grant Garcia, Nigel Hensley, Dane Hollar, Guz Kerzic, Tom Loy, Chad Mellor, Noah Montoya, Ryan Olivares, Chad Reibold, Kurt Reibold, Connor Russell and Tim Trisnadi. Besides Miller, coaches were Sameer Bhatt, Daniel Lai and Eddie Parra. The finished a remarkable 20-4 and 9-3 in league.

Now it’s back to work until next year’s banquet. Hillcrest put on a first-class meal, per usual!

When hunger strikes head over to the Pizza Barn for great prices and outstanding Italian food. Pizza Barn’s All You Can Eat Spaghetti Wednesday is the best deal in town. Pizza Barn is also the home of the original Taco Tuesdays in La Verne. Drop on by!

More Miller Time: Mark Miller has been coaching Bonita's freshman teams for a decade, with only a few losses in all that time. He's signed another one-year contract.

 

Miller had to yield the mike to Dane Hollar.

Steve Morris and Mark Shores again handled coaching chores for the JVs, giving the Bonita program the kind of consistency and depth that few other schools can match.

 

 

 

Varsity Team: Matt Adamo, Zach Brungard, Jordan Butler, Scott Fassas, Chris Finch, Cameron Griffin, Casey Horine, Garrett Horine, Shayan Karim, Brandon Ko, Sean McElwain, James Northup, Garrett Pendleton, Ryan Ramirez and Jeremiah Rasmussen.