The City of Twentynine played host to the 55th Annual Boy’s Basketball Tournament this past weekend. Thirty-one teams from all over Southern California competed for championships in four divisions. In the third- and fourth-grade division, our local Twentynine Palms All-Stars came in second place. Jacob Hueso and Carson Estrada were named to the All-Tournament team. The fifth- and sixth- grade boys also took home second. Cezar Hueso and Brett Hope were named to the All-Tournament team. In the seventh-grade division, the hometown boys marched their way to the championship game by beating teams from Yucca Valley and Needles. D’Shaun Barrett and Adam Bell were named to the All-Tournament team, while Tajmere Carr was named Most Valuable Player for the seventh-grade division. The 10-team eighth-grade division was exciting from the first tip off. With more than half the games coming down to the final buzzer, the boys from Twentynine Palms played well enough to get themselves into the championship game. In the very exciting back and forth game, Needles was able to take home the championship trophies leaving Twentynine Palms with second place. Caleb Roy and Ian Duhon were named to the All-Tournament team.
The annual tournament concludes with the naming of the Hugh “Chief” Jones trophy; an eighth-grade boy is recognized for outstanding sportsmanship, attitude and excelling in school. Ian Duhon was the recipient for the 2013 Hugh “Chief” Jones award. The John Bass Award is also presented annually to the athlete who showed superior sportsmanship on and off the court. This year’s recipient was TJ Shelton from Twentynine Palms
