Small ball entertains: Valley Christian Academy edges rival Sacramento Adventist in OT
The star power here comes from the coaches.
They downplay any impact that their booming personalities have made small-school basketball programs a big player, but the exhaustive, entertaining efforts on Thursday night in Carmichael were testament to programs who deem their coaches too important to disappoint.
Valley Christian Academy of Roseville beat rival Sacramento Adventist Academy 92-87 in overtime, three weeks after Sac Adventist delivered a 90-88 victory over its rivals.
“One thing about our games, it’s worth the admission,” Sac Adventist coach Scott Tedmon said.
Before and after the contest that played out in front of an overflow crowd in a cozy gym plucked right out of “Hoosiers,” the coaches talked shop. They teased each other before the tip that defense was optional, like the first meeting. Afterward, Tedmon and Brad Gunter Jr. of VCA chatted it up for a good 15 minutes, breaking down strategy and heaping praise on each other’s teams, and their mutual admiration for each other.
“I love Scott,” Gunter said. “I respect Scott a ton. We talk all the time. When we compete, our teams go really, really hard, but we’re always friends.”
Said Tedmon, “Both teams played hard. We want our kids on both teams to know that we can compete like crazy between the lines during games, but when it’s over, we need to be classy in defeat and in victory. That’s how you do it. The relationships I have with coaches are more important than the victories. I value Brad a lot. I love the guy. I told our guys that we played as hard as we’ve ever played.”
VCA’s trio of scorers were able to hold off Sac Adventist’s 1-2 prolific punch. Junior guard Chase Clary had 19 points and 10 rebounds for VCA, which moved to 14-8 overall and 4-3 in the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League. Senior guards Ady Serna and Braeden Beaman led Sac Adventist with 33 and 31 points, respectively. The Capitals are 16-7 and 7-2. Western Sierra of Rocklin is 7-0 in league play.
Gunter has been the Lions head coach for 22 years, and he’s been the baseball coach for 27 at the school his father founded. VCA basketball runs “The System,” where waves of players launch shots, crash the boards, try to force turnovers and run the floor, leading to a string of Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoff berths.
Tedmon is in his eighth and final season on the Capitals bench, the second bench he works on each day. Tedmon is a Sacramento County Superior Court judge who in his beloved side gig has produced 150 wins with Sac Adventist, including a D-VI section championship in 2017 and a CIF Northern California championship in 2018. He is bowing out after this season, content with a hoops career that dates back decades.
The coaches were moved to see and chat it up with Dean Stark, the one man most responsible for pulling regional small-school ball out of the shadows and into the spotlight, particularly for schools that do not field football on campus. Stark this season became the winningest coach in section history, boys or girls, with a current tally of 670 victories, all at Sacramento Waldorf.
And typical coaches, they all wonder how much better they can be. Stark lost to both teams that played Thursday in tight games and raved about the leadership of Gunter and Tedmon. Gunter said he likes the speed and tenacity of his gritty Lions, but he wants his guys to shoot better, to make more free throws. He called the win over the Capitals “a huge win for us.”
“Anytime we can beat Tedmon, it’s big,” he said.
Tedmon said he likes his team’s effort and challenges his role players to continue to compete to help the star power of Beaman and Serna. He also urged them to take this defeat and any loss with perspective.
“I told them that it’s OK to be disappointed, but don’t be discouraged,” Tedmon said. “If you become discouraged, then the next step is losing. If you’re discouraged, and there’s a big difference, then you blame everyone else — teachers, parents, coaches, the dog. Just keep going.”
