If you have been following the GVHS girls and boys teams, you’ll see that they are both having a great deal of success to start their seasons. And one of the reasons for the success is that most of these kids grew up playing GV tournament team ball!

Once again GVBL has 9 tournament teams playing in local leagues and AAU level tournaments this winter and into the spring and beyond. This highly competitive level of play, and dedication to a greater commitment to practice beyond our GVBL Rec league, creates the necessary feeder program for the success when the kids reach high school. The added benefit is that creates a greater sense of community for the players and families involved, allowing for the creation of some great lifelong friendships.

Below is a brief recap of some of the team’s start of their seasons this season:   

The 6^th grade boys; GV 29ers picked up an ICBA win at Penn Valley on December 21 and head into the winter break in first place. It was a team effort on offense (all players scored) and defense but we have to shout out the amazing rebounding by Dylan Gustafson (11 rebounds), Cooper Willey (8 rebounds), and James McCollum (9 rebounds). Next up: back to back matchups against a tough King of Prussia team on January 3 and 8.  The 29ers sit atop of their division at 2-0.

In their inaugural season, the 4^th grade boys GV Heat are playing in the Malvern League “A” division and off to a great start. Coaches Stanco and Thies said the team has done a great job in closing games out with better spacing and ball movement late in the game. Devon Thies and Ethan Dewees have led the team with some strong scoring efforts while Charlie Christakis is strong on the boards and Harrison Fisher has some strong all around efforts. In the true GV tournament team philosophical approach, all are getting an opportunity in the flow of the game. Alex Stanco recently played some successful 'point forward' in the 2nd half a game. The GV Heat’s schedule begins to “heat up” in early January.

 The 6th Grade Girls GV Hive have begun their 3^rd season together and came out firing on all cylinders. The Hive took championship honors at the mid December ICBA Queen of the Court tournament, allowing them to qualify for the PA State championships in their age bracket later in March. This season the team will be competing in the highest level 6^th grade girls ICBA division with a full slate of games in the month of January. There is a very high expectation for this group of talented young ladies who play a special brand of team basketball.

The 8^th grade boys once again have a ton of talent and field two ICBA teams this year, the Knights and the Raiders. This is the 5^th year these boys have been playing together and the coaching staff agrees that the GVHS boys team is looking at a great deal of success for years to come. This group plays year round and has played hundreds of games together throughout the past 4+ years. The Knights and Raiders will be playing in two different divisions during the ICBA season.

The Storm, 8^th Grade Girls, has probably been the most successful GV girls tournament team in recent memory. They also play a great game of team basketball, being very tough to stop as the scoring can come from a great number of girls on any given night. That coupled with their ferocious defensive approach makes them formidable every time on the court. They too will be competing at the highest level division for their age group in ICBA this year. Their ability is being showcased this year at the PIAA middle school level as many of the players on the tournament team also play for the school team. GVMS girls 8^th grade team as of Christmas beak remains undefeated.