New team for Alexander

Now JV boys  basketball coach at Foothill High

Former Del Norte varsity basketball coach Scott Alexander talks to player Layton O’Reilley after the Warriors defeated Moreau Catholic in a first round playoff game last February at home. Alexander is now the junior varsity head coach at Foothill High, located in Palo Cedro in the Redding area.Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

At a tournament in Chico, Foothill faced Del Norte, the school he coached at for a number of years, including three years as boys varsity head coach, before moving to Redding this year.

“It was interesting,” Alexander said in a phone interview with The Triplicate. “I know all the kids on the Del Norte team. And Jeff (head coach Jeff Cook) was my assistant and is a friend of mine. It was good to see everyone again. I’m still a big Del Norte fan”

Alexander helped lead the team to a co-share of the Big 5 Conference title and a 21-6 overall mark last season. He began helping out as a coach with the Del Norte basketball program shortly after he arrived in town in 1999 and also was the Warrior JV head coach for a number of seasons.

Foothill, which is located near Redding in Palo Cedro, is known as one of the better boys varsity basketball squads in the region.

At the end of the JV game, Foothill had earned a 22-point victory.

While it was nice to get the win, Alexander said that “it was not so much fun” having to see kids and coaches he is still close to having to suffer a defeat.

A unique experience

On Wednesday, the Del Norte High boys varsity team faced Foothill at the “Jamie Angley” Hornet Classic at Enterprise High School in Redding.

Alexander was invited by John Horner to be his co-announcer on the local KPOD radio broadcast on 97.9 FM.

On Tuesday, Alexander said that he expected it to be a unique experience.

“It’s going to be strange, not including the fact that I’ve never done radio before,” Alexander said. “We’ve been part of the Del Norte culture for so many years.“

He said that he has talked to current varsity coach Blaine Lopez, whom Alexander replaced at Del Norte in 2008, a number of times this season. They discussed each other’s teams and talked shop.

While he may be gone from Del Norte, Alexander said he still cares deeply about the team and the area.

“I still want them to do well,” he said.

Alexander said that the Foothill varsity team is an athletic group with a deep bench that likes to play an up-tempo game and run up and down the floor.

“They have to go out play hard the whole game,” he said about his former team on Tuesday. “Hopefully they can learn from the experience.”

Del Norte ended up losing the game by 29 points, 59-30, on Wednesday afternoon in Redding.

So far this season, Alexander’s Foothill team is 5-4, including making it to the title game of two tournaments.

With five freshmen, Alexander said it’s a young and inexperienced but talented squad that is still working on its consistency and figuring out how to finish out games.

“I really like my team,” he said. “We got a great group of young players. But we’re a young team, so we’re good at times and bad at times … Many of our players are just right out of junior high and are learning how to play high school basketball, so they are at the ground floor of their development.”

Elevate Worldwide

Alexander, his wife and two young children moved to Redding so he could start up a passion of his, which has now become a full-time endeavor.

Scott is the co-founder and program director of a nonprofit organization, Elevate Worldwide, which is designed to help church youth groups.

The organization puts on numerous summer camps for middle school students and teens from churches throughout the region at Lassen Pines Christian Camp in Shingletown, located about 45 minutes from Redding.

Alexander served for 12 years as the youth pastor at Smith River Baptist Church alongside his father, Steve Alexander, the pastor of the chuch.

With under 100 participants this past summer, Alexander has been busy going around the region the past few months spreading the word to churches about the camps offered by his organization.

At this time more than 500 kids are expected to take part in the different camps next summer, which has exceeded his initial expectations.

“It feels great that it has all gone so well,” Alexander said.

It’s vital to give a positive outlet for kids in the summer and to help them become closer to God, he said.

For more information on Alexander’s nonprofit organization go to www.elevateworldwide.org.