By Tom Price Jr.
Erica, Johnny and Anthony are more than just siblings they are a team.
Growing up all three of them played on the same recreation team and now Johnny and Anthony are a one-two-punch for the Lindsay Cardinals basketball team and Erica is scoring points for the girls team.
Their bond however is much deeper than looking out for each other on the court
"We have always been together and I wouldn't have it any other way," Erica said. "If I need help with something, anything they are always there for me."
On the court Johnny is a smooth perimeter player who can single handedly take a game over with keen shooting ability. Johnny, a junior, was named the MVP of the Parlier Tournament earlier in the year after averaging 21 points for the tourney and scoring 25 points in the championship game.
The Cardinals frantic pace on defense and on transition needs a speedy and quick thinking guard, and that would be Anthony. In many of the Cardinals 10 wins this year he has dictated the pace of the game with his valuable ball handling skills.
"I will break anybody's ankles that is front of me," he says.
It's no surprise that Anthony's favorite target is his brother. Johnny is not hard to spot, a lanky and long-haired shooter who seems to have a knack for getting open.
"We have been playing together forever," Johnny said. "I know he is going to pass the ball and find me when I am open."
Erica his getting her fair share of minutes as a defensive workhorse on the girls team. She played with Johnny and Anthony until junior high when they segregate the teams. And if she had it all to do again she would still play with them.
"It was always that way," Erica said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Off the court they are a team at their family restaurant China's Alley in Lindsay. Much of their childhood was spent at the restaurant, when they weren't on the court of course.
"It's a lot of fun for me," father and restaurant owner Rueben Gonzalez said. "My life is watching them play sports, I will drop work or whatever I am doing to watch them play."
This became a problem for the former Lindsay Cardinal basketball standout, because when the boys play at home, the girls play on the road.
"My wife and I were split, so she watches Erica and I watch the boys," Rueben said. "I really wish I could see them all."
It looks like teamwork even works for the parents.
