Beltz enjoys brotherhood of Eagles’ squad
Accomplishments: At age 5, Jimmy Beltz started watching basketball games on TV.
Today, the Elliot Christian High boys basketball player is the lone member of the school’s 2,000 points club.
On Wednesday, Beltz, a 6foot-1, 162-pound senior guard, and the Eagles hosted a California Interscholastic Federation State Boys Basketball Championships Division V Nor-Cal opener against Mt. Shasta at The Jungle on the Tokay High campus. Beltz canned a 3-pointer to become the first Elliot player to score 2,000 points during his four years in the program. He finished with 22 points, which helped Elliot post a 76-45 win over the Bears.
“That was one of my goals coming into the season,” Beltz said. “I definitely wanted to reach that milestone.”
Beltz is thankful for his teammate for helping him reach the 2K club.
“My teammates helped me throughout the game, and throughout the season,” Beltz said.
Beltz and seniors Onkar Sidhu, Jalen Valverde, Nick Figueroa, Amari Jacobs, Giovanni Vulleri, Josiah Spurgeon and Spencer Sani have been a “tight-unit” that has found ways to improve their play on both sides of the ball. The team also includes jun-
iors Nate Bond, Cody Doell and Josh Alejandre, sophomore Robert Dutcher and freshman Zach Vangoningen.
“We have a brotherhood at Elliot,” described Beltz. “They’re so much fun to play with. A great group of guys, great coaching staff.”
Last month, Beltz became the school’s alltime leader in scoring, surpassing the mark of 1,591 points set by Adam Gotelli, a 2014 Elliot graduate who is now playing on the North Idaho College men’s basketball team.
On Saturday, Elliot (27-4), the D-V No. 2 seed, plays its second round Nor-Cal game against No. 7 Envision Academy of Oakland (18-5). The game will be played at McNair High.
In the Sac-Joaquin Section D-V championship game against Argonaut at the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center on March 4, Beltz connected on six treys for part of his game-high 26 points. That contributed the Eagles posting an 83-52 win over the Mustangs for Elliot’s first-ever section title in boys basketball. The Eagles played in the section’s D-V title game two years ago, losing to Central California Athletic Alliance foe Brookside Christian at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
This season, Beltz leads the team in scoring with 19.7 points per game. He’s also made 139-of-384 3-pointers for 35 percent. In addition, he’s made 65-of-84 free throws for a 77 percent. Last year as a junior, Beltz averaged 23 points per game. He made 124-of-334 treys.
Playing for Elliot coach Jason Hitt, who was the Linden High girls basketball coach prior, has been rewarding for Beltz.
“He’s one of the best coaches,” said Beltz of Hitt. “It’s just a great overall experience.”
Building this year’s team started after the end of last season, when Elliot lost at Stuart Hall of San Francisco in the first round of the Nor-Cal playoffs.
“We were bitter about the losses we had in the post-season,” Beltz said. “We just went right to work (after end of last season). We haven’t looked back. Honestly, we knew that this was going to be our year. It’s so much fun to win. That’s what it’s all about for us. We really feel confident that we can win a state title.”
The process to become a proficient 3-point shooter started Beltz’s freshman year at Elliot.
“It was one of the areas that we needed some help,” Beltz said. “I had to make myself standout for the team.”
Beltz works on basketball skills every day. That includes shooting the ball outside of the Eagles’ practices.
“I usually try to get in about 500 shots,” Beltz said.
The idea of becoming the school’s new alltime leading scorer was the furthest from Beltz’s mind at 5. He and his stepfather Harold Siler use to watch basketball games on TV.
“Then he bought me a little mini-hoop,” recalled Beltz. “I just started playing, and just loved it.”
Regional and out-of-state four-year colleges have been in contact with Beltz about playing basketball after he graduates from Elliot Christian this spring. California State University, Stanislaus, plus Chico State and State University of New York at Cortland in Cortland, NY are on Beltz’s list, along with smaller four-year colleges. Beltz plans to major in business or sports marketing.