An unprecedented season for UCA’s undefeated jv team

In his first year as head coach of the United Christian Academy’s junior varsity basketball team, Keith Samuels had the daunting task of turning the squad of just seven boys into a winning combination.
No need to worry. 
This season the jv boys at UCA won not some, not most, but all of their games played, finishing the season undefeated and with a record of 14-0. They were recognized by the Virginia Association of Christian Athletics as champs in the jv division. And an undefeated team is a first for UCA.
For their achievement, each jv basketball player will receive a medallion and a “VACA Champs 2009” tee shirt. They also added one more championship trophy to the UCA Trophy case. 
In recent interviews, both Samuels and assistant coach Todd Rowland praised the strengths of the team.
“I had Cody Speck, Dylan Samuels and Phillip Gibson returning from last year’s team when I was assistant coach, and I knew they were willing to be leaders on the floor and to put in a consistent effort every game.“
He added:
“All of these boys seemed like they’d never let up,“ said Samuels. “With some kids you have to work, work, work with them, and you have to fire them up before a game. But these boys played hard. I didn’t have to convince them to play hard. It was inside them already. 
Rowland agreed.
“I was impressed,“ he said. “They were a great representation of the school. It was a pleasure working with them and with Keith.“
Samuels describes his goal set for the boys this season: “Play as a team, pass the ball, and play tough defense.“
They latched onto a pressure defense that worked well against their opponents. In fact, the boys gave up more than 40 points only three times in 14 games, said Samuels.
“Our goal was to hold teams below 10 points per quarter,“ he said. “We believed in playing a pressure defense … We ran defenses that focused on taking away our opponents’ strengths, and that seemed to work really well.  For example, one of the defenses we used was a one-three-one trapping defense that I learned from the late John Burch at William Monroe.“ 
But, he added, “if you’re playing against a really skilled player, you can get beat off the dribble pretty badly, so you have to rely on your teammates to help you.“
Early on, Samuels admits he was worried about the small size of the 7-member squad.
“If someone gets in foul trouble, you only have two players on the bench,“ he explained. “It’s hard (on the players) if you’re playing intense defense. Luckily, a lot of them played soccer, so they were already in shape.“
One of the toughest games of the season was against Roanoke valley, said Samuels. It was also a turning point, of sorts.
  “This was the sixth or seventh game of the season, “ Samuels recalled. “We knew that Roanoke Valley was really good and had a good record.  The boys had already watched the girl’s team (from UCA) lose. We were losing at half time by two points. At half time I told them: ‘I think you’re going to win this game. They kept their defense and intensity up, and that’s when they started believing in themselves.“
They went on to win against Roanoke, 53 - 41.
Samuels, as with his fellow coaches at UCA, volunteered his time and talents during the grueling, roughly 3-month basketball season, which started in December.  He describes himself as an “effort-based” coach. 
“The more effort I see, the more you’re going to play,“ he explained. “Sometimes I can have a talented kid sitting on the bench for awhile; it’s a good thing to learn when you have a lot of talent that you’ve got to have desire and passion—that goes along with it.“