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Alexsander Fuentes
The Daily Herald If you're a Utah Valley high school basketball fan, you know players like Tyler Haws of Lone Peak, C.J. Wilcox of Pleasant Grove, Brandon Davies of Provo and Bronson Kaufusi of Timpview. Coaches like Lone Peak's Quincy Lewis and Provo's Craig Drury are legendary.

But have you ever heard of Alex Fuentes or Josh Hall?

Probably not, but they are also doing big things on the basketball court, including leading their team to a tournament title.

Hall is the inspiring young volunteer head coach of the boys team at Independence High School and Fuentes is the star player.

They proved to be a formidable combination -- along with a number of other good players on the team -- as Independence overpowered the competition in the first Utah School Sports Alliance tournament in Provo last weekend and earned first place.

"It's very exciting," Fuentes said. "Everyone doubted us. Even some of the people in school said we wouldn't be very good. We just had to come out and play the way we do."

While victory on the basketball court is a great achievement for the players of Independence, USSA has loftier goals in mind for many of the participants.

"The message is about helping kids," explained Richard Dewey, who spent countless hours over the last year organizing a league of charter, alternative and troubled kid schools. "That's what's made it a fun thing to work on this league. These kids are better students because of it."

10 schools from Logan to Price that were either too small, too new or otherwise unable to join the Utah High School Activities Association -- including Independence, Provo Canyon, Walden Academy of Liberal Arts and Liahona Academy in Pleasant Grove -- began competition in January and played for three months, culminating in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

"I didn't believe it at first when they told me (there would be a league)," said Independence senior Sam Vave. "It was pretty exciting. I was ready to take it and start playing."

The idea wasn't a new one, since Independence and other schools in similar circumstances had organized their own league in the 1990s, but when the organizer moved on it fell apart.

Since then some of the teams had been competing in city leagues but this opportunity gave them a different perspective.

"This has been a great chance for me to develop my game and the game of my teammates," Fuentes said. "It's also a chance for us to get the name of our school out there."

Dewey -- who has a freshman son on the team at Independence -- said that he's seen and heard about the excitement it's generated for both the players and the other students at the schools.

"They're better students because of it," he explained. "It's positive motivation for them. They get to have their family and friends come and support them, and for some them this is the first time they've had that."

For Hall, a dynamic coach who has worked hard to teach his team lessons for basketball and life, there's a power in watching the kids represent something.

"This is making a difference in kids' lives," he said. "It's teaching them discipline, hard work and effort. Winning gives them a sense of pride they've never had before, a feeling of accomplishment that will resonate for years to come."

Hall doesn't get paid for his efforts with the athletes but he says he feels it's a great opportunity to give something back.

"I want to give the kids hope," he said. "I had a coach that gave me hope. I was a poor kid that had teachers that would tell me I was going to amount to nothing. But one coach believed I could do it and taught me to work hard. If they can see that vision, if they can tangibly feel it, they're going to try for it. That's why I'm here, to push them on."

It's not easy for many of the players that have had trouble with academics or going to class, but having something to be passionate about gives them a big boost.

"It's helped me out a lot," Vave said. "When I haven't been able to play, I've just gone and watched on the sideline. It makes me want to do well in school so I can be out there."

Not all of the schools that participated in the league are working with teenagers that have struggled in that sense, but they all appreciated having the chance to compete against other similar schools.

"For those teams that can't get in to UHSAA right now, having something like this is awesome," said Liahona head coach Jason Long, who led his team to a second-place finish in the tournament. "It's been fun and a great opportunity for the kids."

Dewey explained that while he's passed much of the organizational duties on to others, he has heard that many other schools have been interested and believes that next year the USSA might expand into other sports.

"We're creating a small-town atmosphere in large cities by getting these smaller schools to compete," he said.

Hall would love to see people throughout the area see what a difference it's making and get behind the league.

"We need volunteers and funds to make it legitimate," he said. "A lot of kids can't participate because they can't afford it, but a lot of kids can be changed by competing."