Unbeaten Elk Grove boys’ basketball team relies on ‘Money’ ball to earn its wins
Dajon Lott doesn’t go by Dajon much among family or friends.
He goes by “Money.”
This initially amused Dustin Monday, the Elk Grove High School basketball coach who wondered how the lanky lad could have such a cool nickname. That lad is now a strapping 6-foot-8 junior forward/center for Elk Grove, as thick and sturdy as he is versatile and efficient.
“I thought at first, ‘No! I can’t call a freshman ‘Money’ — but everyone else did, including his mom, so he’s Money,” Monday said Tuesday night after watching his gritty and skilled Thundering Herd team cash in for another big victory.
Ranked fourth, Elk Grove pulled away from visiting No. 5 Grant 73-60 in a nonleague contest to move to 8-0. Lott scored 18 points, powering inside for buckets and hitting two 3-pointers in showcasing range. He had five rebounds and blocked three shots.
If Money isn’t the team’s top player, then it just might be junior guard Ameere Britton, also a relentlessly versatile fellow, but one without a nickname. May we suggest “Load” as he is every bit that as a powerfully built 6-foot-2, 200-pounder able to score in the lane, from deep with emphasis as a dunker.
Britton had 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Thundering Herd warmed up for a showdown at top-ranked Jesuit on Thursday with the Delta League championship — and no looming playoffs — on the line. Jesuit is 13-0 and is led by perhaps the region’s top talent in Stanford-bound senior guard Isa Silva.
Lott and Britton are two of a core of Thundering Herd players who have grown up playing ball together in Elk Grove, proof that this trend still exists. They owed one to Grant, which eliminated Elk Grove from the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs last season.
Monday is an Elk Grove graduate who estimates that he has fired up, “at least 10,000 shots in this old gym growing up here.” He stresses teamwork and effort, and the Herd responds. They also can laugh it up in a loose post-game locker room.
“It’s a really good group to be around,” Monday said. “A lot of those kids have been together since they were little. They’ve grown up together.”
Another key piece to Elk Grove and another of those who have been with Lott and Britton for years is guard Aaron Gillyard, a senior who had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Two other seniors in Mike McGlone and Isaiah Niles combined for seven points, nine rebounds and two charges. Junior guards Jordan Hess and Karlos Zepeda have also been regular contributors this season, and they combined for 12 points and steady defense and ball movement.
Monday says there is no true leader, just a bunch of guys who lead by example and care about what they do. But if it comes down to crunch time, the ball is going to Money or Britton. The coach appreciates his team’s team-first mantra.
“We only have one ball, so everyone has to do their part and better be getting rebounds, setting screens,” Monday said. “We’ve been doing that.”
Britton is the sort of guy who goes nonstop, full octane, and never seems to tire.
“I put in a lot of work in the off season to get better, and we want to keep getting better as a team,” he said “We’re having a good time.”
Grant (5-3) was having a good time until it lost its top player in standout guard Corey Yerger. The Long Beach State-bound senior kept Grant in it for three quarters against Elk Grove as the Pacers were thinned out with several starters out for a variety of reasons.
Yerger in the third quarter took an inadvertent elbow to the mouth going for a rebound and had to collect himself, and then he was ejected for barking his disapproval of a play. That happened with 4:22 to play in the game and Grant trailing 61-52.
The Herd pulled away from there. Yerger had 19 and impressive sophomore forward Jordan Bobo had 15 in scoring inside and out, and Jayson Matthews had 11.
Grant caps the season Wednesday against rival and No. 6 Burbank and on Thursday against Monterey Trail.