Soto, McMinn lead San Antonio to NWBA Military Division Championship
Juan Soto’s steady, patient presence held the San Antonio Grunts together when their big lead evaporated late in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s (NWBA’s) Military Division wheelchair basketball title game.
The point guard calmed the team’s offense down, delivered some key assists and slowed down the tempo in the final minute to help San Antonio hang on and close the game out.
Both Blake McMinn and Soto scored 27 points apiece to lift the No. 2-seeded San Antonio Grunts to a 68-63 win over the No. 1 seed Bridge2Sports SharpShooters in Sunday’s Military Division championship at the Plassman Athletic Center at Turnstone in Fort Wayne, Ind.
After knocking off the Military Division tournament’s defending champ, the Wolfpack Vets, in Saturday’s semifinals, the Grunts built a big second-half lead and then survived.
A 45-year-old Dallas resident, Soto went 10-of-15 from the field and hit 7-of-8 free throws and provided a steady point guard presence. San Antonio went 12-of-14 from the foul line overall. And Soto took home the Military Division’s championship game MVP golden ball.
An Army veteran, Soto served from 1998 to 2002 in communications and sustained a level T12/L1 spinal cord injury in a 2003 motor vehicle accident in Texas. He’s played wheelchair basketball for over 20 years.
“It feels great. I’ve been blessed to be on other championship teams in the Dallas area, so it’s nice to get the gold ball, you know? But we all play different roles on different teams. So, this is my role on this team.”
This marked the first year the Military Division was officially part of the NWBA’s Championship Series.
San Antonio had a 58-42 lead with 8 minutes and 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter and seemed to be cruising along. Bridge2Sports’ Tee Martin had fouled out, leaving them with a different lineup, as well.
But the SharpShooters nearly rallied all the way back, They went on a 20-6 run, with Antoine Gray and Jesse Lind scoring six points each during it, to cut the deficit down to just three points, 66-63, with 31.4 seconds remaining.
Soto, who had banked in a key basket with just 1 minute left, went to work. With the Grunts taking the ball upcourt, he slowed the tempo down and helped the Grunts stay patient, forcing the SharpShooters to use up time with two fouls to give.
After using the two fouls, Bridge2Sports fouled Charles Armstead with 5.2 seconds left. He sank both free throws to push their lead back up to five points to lift them to the win.
“I think we’re able to ride the waves and withstand the kind of a fierce comeback from the other team. They were definitely much bigger than us. We were able to use experience, quickness and just play to our advantage, especially when Blake and I were running a good power two-man game. We were able to get some really good looks, if not for ourselves, for other players,” says Soto, who scored 17 points in the first half. “But props to the other team because they stormed back really hard and made it very challenging at the end.”
McMinn had the hot hand early, scoring eight of the team’s first 16 points and had 13 points at halftime. He finished 13-of-21 from the field, hit his free-throw attempt and had a double-double, also totaling 12 rebounds.
Armstead finished with six points and four rebounds, Jason Rainey added four points and four rebounds and Anesi Tu’ufuli had four points and a rebound.
Gray led the SharpShooters with 18 points and had four rebounds, while Lind had 15 points and four rebounds. Joe Wittkamp (10 points and one rebound) and Booker T. Foster (10 points and four rebounds) also scored in double-digits, while Freddie Smith (six points) and Justin Knowles (four points, 10 rebounds) also contributed.
National Wheelchair Basketball Association Military Division Tournament
Third-Place Game
No. 4 Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch (WWAR) Florida 43, No. 3 Wolfpack Vets 36
Championship
No. 2 San Antonio Grunts 68, No. 1 Bridge2Sports SharpShooters 63
