Belle Air Basketball Team Takes 4th- and 5th-Grade Championship

Each week, San Bruno Patch features an athlete or sports team that shows promise in their sport. This week, contributor Daniel Beckman catches up with Coach Lorenzo Hockaday and team to talk about Belle Airfourth and fifth-grade after-school basketball team after their game Saturday.

Daniel Beckman: What brought your team to the championships and to victory?

Lorenzo Hockaday: Just hard work. Hard work and dedication. All you have to do is really instill the values that you learned throughout your life into your team. For me, I always played hard and just wanted my team to do the same.

DB: Was there a point in today's championship game where you were worried about losing, and what did you do to turn the tide?

LH: I was most worried about this kid named Cruz from El Crystal. He was on fire today, hitting a lot of threes. I know my team and know they didn't want to lose so I brought them in and pumped them up to win, and we took home the win.

DB: Take me through a day of training for your team.

LH: First, we start off with stretching for 15 minutes. Then we go into layups—left side, right side. We go over fastbreak offense and fastbreak defense. Other than that, we play a lot of games. That's the main thing: getting them used to playing the game of basketball.

DB: How big a role does sportsmanship play in your team?

LH: It's very big. For me, I'm the kind of coach that likes when the ref makes the call. I would rather my team get called on the traveling or double dribble because I want them to get used to playing and getting tight calls called on them. It's not about complaining about calls or fouls. It's about honoring them.

DB: March Madness is in full swing. Any predictions?

LH: UConn. Kemba Walker, all the way!

DB: If your team had an anthem, what would it be?

LH: "All of the lights" by Kanye West.