Murrieta All-Stars Fall to Harlem Ambassadors

If the team would have just followed his lead, Murrieta police Officer Brandon Byler believes they could have pulled off a win.

But to his disappointment, they didn't.

The Murrieta All-Stars, made up of city council members, the police and fire chiefs, school principals and other community officials lost their game Thursday night against the Harlem Ambassadors, 78-30.

“We are definitely upset. We came into this heavily favored,” said Byler, who joined the Murrieta police force two weeks ago and as sort of an initiation, was invited to play with the All-Stars.

It was all in good fun, though, and money raised through game-ticket sales went toward the Rotary Club of Murrieta’s Foundation. The organization raises money all year long to support scholarships for local youth and a variety of other youth-targeted causes, according to Craig Carper, foundation director.

“One of the Rotary Club’s primary focuses is the youth of the community,” Carper said.

In organizing the Murrieta All-Star team for the game, Carper said he reached out to local officials and ended up with a team of nearly 20.

“This was just something a little different to get the community involved,” Carper said.

In addition to getting to watch the mayor and other officials take on the Harlem Ambassadors, the crowd was entertained by the high-energy show that included ball-handling tricks, dancing, singing and comedy stunts.

Robin Didonato came from Temecula to watch the game that was held at It paid off for her when she won a raffle for $100. With her three children in tow, they begged mom to buy “toys” with it.

“It’s been a fun night,” Didonato said. “The kids have had fun, it was definitely worth it.”

An autographed basketball was also raffled off.

Officials said they were happy to support the Rotary Club’s fund-raising effort.

“The Rotary does a great job in the community,” said Murrieta police Chief Mike Baray. “This program was actually for our youth so it was of a particular interest of mine and the Police Department because it’s another way of helping the youth in our community.”

Including the chief, four members of the Police Department courageously went up against the Harlem Ambassadors.

“We had a lot who wanted to participate but we were limited on the number that could come out.”

And it wouldn’t have been an All-Star team without a few members of the Fire Department.

Murrieta fire Chief Matt Shobert and two other firefighters donned jerseys. Beside being “a little sore,” Shobert said he gladly accepted the duty of representing the city on the court.

“Everybody wins: the kids win and the community wins,” Shobert said.

By the time the Harlem Ambassadors dare come back to Murrieta, Byler may be well into his career on the police force.

“We are going to be bigger, we are going to be stronger and we are going to be training around the clock,” Byler said. “Mark my words, the Harlem Ambassadors are going down next year.”