Bloom Heritage High Basketball High school basketball is overshadowed by the NFL, but a story unfolding at heritage high school is worthy of local headlines — and could be the basis of a script for a Hollywood movie. March 2007

by Jim Mannion

I have a confession to make: I’m a basketball junkie. I daily scour local newspaper sports sections for nuggets of basketball information. I talk to friends and even strike up conversations with strangers about the Golden State Warriors or the California Golden Bears. If a game is going on, I want to talk about it and analyze the outcome.

The Warriors, Cal, and St. Mary’s are right in our backyards, but high school basketball fans around the East Bay are blessed with an abundance of well-coached and hard-working teams to root for and follow through the season.

Teams from as far south as Fremont, east into the Tri-Valley, and up through Contra Costa County continually produce successful basketball teams that compete at the highest level in the North Coast Section and State playoffs. The Bay Valley Athletic League is marked by schools with winning traditions such as Deer Valley and De La Salle, which, makes the winter months exciting for East County fans.

A new program joined the Bay Valley Athletic League varsity basketball schedule for the 2006-2007 season and Brentwood residents didn’t have to go very far to enjoy hoops mania. Heritage High School in Brentwood opened its doors in the fall of 2005 to its first-ever sophomore and freshman classes. The school’s sports teams started participating that year as well, with a majority of them competing on the junior varsity and freshman level.

That year, Discovery Bay resident, Pat Cruickshank, became the school’s first Athletic Director, as well as the basketball head coach and physical education teacher. He spent 19 years as San Leandro High School’s varsity basketball coach, before a two-year stint at Liberty High School. Coach Cruickshank knows what it takes to build a top-notch program. The school is only one year old, and the basketball team has a lot of work ahead of it.

“The varsity game is a totally different level (than the junior varsity),” Cruickshank said. “I’ve never been a big goal guy, so I’ve really been trying to preach, ‘let’s just play hard everyday.’”

The team consists of 10 juniors and two sophomores, and kicked off the season on a high note, not only competing well in the Bruin Classic Basketball Tournament in Stockton, but winning it. The Patriots knocked off Inderkum High from Sacramento in the championship game of the eight-team tournament, with sophomore guard, Jordan Knox, and junior center, Greg Howard, landing all-tournament honors.

Cruickshank was impressed with the way the team handled themselves, and how they played together as a team.

“We’re beginning to understand that we’re a pretty good team together, and not as good as individuals.”

Knox, a smooth left-handed guard, began to blossom as a scorer at the tournament in Stockton. He should be a strong part of the Patriots for the next two years. We knew this was going to happen,” Cruickshank said. “We were just waiting for the coming out party.”

Knox emerged as a go-to player after scoring 22 points in the championship game. Cruickshank also noted that junior captains, Paul Ramey and Kyle Golinveaux, have turned into team leaders worthy of being imitated.

“They’re our leaders,” Cruickshank said. “Our players really look up to them as role models.”

Ramey, a 6-foot-2 forward, does just about everything well on the court. Whether defending, handling the ball, or scoring from the inside or outside, Ramey is a classic “glue guy” that every team needs to be successful.

Ramey is honored to be a part of the school’s first varsity team and understands the responsibility that comes along with it.

“It’s harder to make traditions than maintain them,” Ramey said, “but it’s exciting to set an example and pave the way for others.”

Coach Cruickshank’s first team at Heritage was the junior varsity in 2005, which gave him a chance to work with his current players for an entire season before jumping to the varsity level.

That team finished with a 16-10 record and got a chance to grow as a group.

Cruickshank and assistant coach Rich Castellanos, knew they could be successful if the team played as a group and played for each other.

Game Night

I ventured out to Brentwood on a chilly winter evening to catch a match-up between Heritage and Oakley’s Freedom High School. As I turned onto American Avenue in the dark, I was unsure of what to expect from the campus and the aptly named Patriot Gymnasium that will house Heritage basketball teams for years to come.

I entered the gymnasium 25 minutes before the 7 p.m. tip-off, and was immediately impressed with the brightness and polished look the facility displayed. Cruickshank likened the feel to that of a small arena since fans walk into the building from above the court.

Two glass trophy cases greeted me near the entrance — one completely empty and the other proudly displaying 16 trophies and plaques Heritage has accumulated in its young life, including the Bruin Classic first-place trophy. The school is young in years and the cases represent the bright prospects of future athletic achievements.

I caught the end of the junior varsity game as fans began to file in for the varsity contest. Team boosters sold Heritage sports gear such as hats, pom-poms, and seat cushions in the team colors, baby blue, and yellow.

After a quick bite to eat at the snack bar, I sat in the middle of the rustling and murmuring crowd until music began to blare over the loud speakers and the 12-man Heritage squad sprinted out from its locker room. Shoes squeaked and adrenaline pumped as they went through their pre-game warm ups of lay-ups and jump shots.

PA announcer, Kenny Lee, enthusiastically ran through the game’s starting line-ups, and after singing the Star Spangled Banner we were ready for tip-off. Heritage started with Knox, Ramey, Howard, Golinveaux, and fellow junior point guard, Aaron Dalton.

Right from the outset of the game, it was apparent that Heritage played hard-nosed, disciplined basketball, and well beyond their years without a senior on the team. Every shot Freedom took was defended well, and the offense looked crisp, snapping passes across the court and setting solid screens with good spacing and assertiveness.

It’s apparent when a team is organized and prepared to react to the shifting techniques and patterns of play that they face during the course of a game. A lot of that can be attributed to Coach Cruickshank, with his experience coaching at the varsity level.

“It’s a new school, but not a new program,” Ramey said. “The coach has been doing this for so long and has such a great work ethic; all we have to do is go hard and run hard.” The game ebbed and flowed with Heritage leading throughout most of the first three quarters. The crowd was entertained during time outs by cheerleaders back-flipping across the court, and local advertisements displayed on the video screens of the scoreboard.

Cruickshank, sporting a light blue shirt and yellow tie that matched his team’s uniforms, shuffled players in and out of the game, including forward Chris Lange, and 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard Jimmy Enomoto, who Ramey calls the team’s spark-plug.

Heritage controlled the game’s tempo and appeared ready to run away with the game when Freedom began to make a valiant comeback. With Heritage leading 34-23 late in the third quarter, the Freedom players clawed their way back on the shoulders of sharp-shooting guard, Eddie Rettagliatta, and took a 36-34 lead with three minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

Giving up a late lead can be hard to come back from, especially for a young team playing against a league opponent from the neighboring town, but Heritage responded well and was able to take back the lead.

Dalton, a steady, aggressive point guard, gave the fans the most exciting 10-second span of the evening. With the game tied, and less than two minutes left on the clock, Dalton calmly sank a 15-foot jump shot from the baseline, then stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and dropped in a lay-up from the right side, giving Heritage a 40-36 lead and sealing the victory.

Dalton pumped his fist as the crowd roared, and I could imagine youngsters sitting up in the stands, looking forward to becoming a Patriot someday. Heritage played hard throughout the game, showed composure, and won a closely contested league game in the highly competitive Bay Valley Athletic League.

Cruickshank was impressed with how his team showed poise under pressure.

“I told our kids after the game that a month ago we would not have been able to handle the pressure,” Cruickshank said. “But we’ve grown and understand what we need to do in those types of situations. Freedom kept coming at us, but we were able to finish it.”

The game had everything a basketball fan is looking for in a high school game on a wintry Tuesday night. It was well played with an exciting finish.

Heritage players are learning how to put together victories on the court in their inaugural varsity season, and their passion for basketball brings them closer as a group off the court as well.

“Everybody gets along,” Ramey said. “We’re always hanging out at lunch and after school. It’s a very close-knit group.” Coach Cruickshank agreed.

“We know each other very well on and off the court,” he said. “This helps in establishing relationships and trust on the court.”

At Heritage High School everything is fresh and full of promise with a brand new facility, an established coaching staff, dedicated players, and strong support from the community. It’s easy to look into the future and be excited for what lies ahead.

But Cruickshank realizes that the best approach to ensure success in the future is the simplest one: work hard in the present.

“I just try to focus on what’s going on today,” Cruickshank said. “I’m very happy with where we are, and we’re just working hard everyday to get better.”

The ’07-08 school year will kick-off with a full campus of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, a first for the young school.

As a basketball junkie, I look forward to the winter, when Ramey, Knox, Howard and Company hit the hardwood again. Can this tight-knit bunch pull off another first by winning a BVAL league title? If that question was posed to Coach Cruickshank, I’m sure I would know his answer:

“One game at a time,” he would say.