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A group of young Fortuna basketball players had to dig deep on the path to success this season.

After losing two players to injury earlier in the campaign, the Fortuna Middle School eighth-grade boys team closed out the winter season by winning the A-1 division at the recent Crescent City Jaycees tournament.

And they did it with victories over a pair of teams that had gotten the better of them earlier in the season.

“We had some players step up at key moments,” head coach Kyle Crawford said. “They were committed to the basketball team and that was very important in our success.”

Point guard Dameer Kowtko played a particularly key role in the team’s success in Crescent City and was named tournament MVP after leading the team in scoring over the three games.

Teammates Zach Bunke and Brodie Crosswhite each also were named to the all-tournament team.

“Both contributed in scoring,” Crawford said of Bunke and Crosswhite. “But their defense was very important in our success.” 

All three of the team’s tournament games were close, but the young Spartans answered the call each time, finding ways to win games that could have gone either way.

The Fortuna boys beat both Pacific Union and Ferndale on the way to qualifying for the championship game, the latter of which had got the better of the Spartans earlier in the season.

In the championship game, the young Fortuna players faced another team that had beaten them this year, Rio Dell, and they prevailed 40-37 to take home the title.

And they did it despite having just eight players on the roster for the tournament.

“The team was resilient,” Crawford said. “Every game in the tournament was close.”

Kayden Crawford also impressed for the Fortuna boys on the way to the title, scoring five 3-pointers in the semifinal against Ferndale to lead the Spartans to a two-point victory.

Cameron Heldebrandt, Anthony Cuautle, Ryan Brock, Chevo Burchill, Roman Stephenson and Isaiah Hoagler round out the roster, all of whom contributed on the way to success.

And overall, it was a fun season for the team, and coaches.

“They’re all great kids, great young men,” the head coach said. “They’re hard working and they’ve got great personalties. They were a lot of fun, that’s for sure.”

Brittany Gonzales was an assistant coach on the team and also played a key role, according to the head coach.