Kenner Quarters – Friday
Ron Bailey, Publisher
Quarterfinal Kenner action concluded yesterday. One of the games was a doozy.
August 15, 2009 – Yesterday saw the conclusion
of Kenner League quarterfinal action at McDonough Arena, on the campus
of Georgetown University. It was a mirror of summertime basketball, as
one game was a thriller, the other not close, yet both offered an opportunity
for observers to witness competition.
Madness/A. Wash 69 Premier Athletics 53
A 29-all halftime tie ballooned into a 62-47 deficit for Premier, before Pops Mensa-Bonsu’s (18 points) layup/and-one opportunity with 3:18 to play for that team.
The reason was twofold – hot shooting by the likes of international pros Tony Bethel (11 points) and Bryant Matthews (14 points) along with VCU swingman Jay Gavin (15 points), along with full court defensive pressure; Madness/A. Wash’s coach, Larry Bowden, said of the defense “We put the diamond press (1-3-1), 2-2-1, all that, on them” to produce chaos in and turnovers from Premier. Another of his guards, Eric Brahnam (7 points) laughed when overhearing the conversation, saying “We put that Arkansas pressure on them”.
Andrew “Spongebob” Washington, himself an international pro, chipped in 15 for Premier, in an injury-marred, gutsy performance.
NBA pro Pops Mensa-Bonsu tried to block Romanian League pro Brian Matthews' shot. Mensa-Bonsu starred at GW in college, while Matthews was All-Big East with Virginia Tech.
Bearcats 83 We Are One 81
If the first game wasn’t entirely memorable, the second was, as
it took two overtimes and heroics by University of South Florida guard
Chris Howard (28 points) to seal the win for the Bearcats. Of Howard’s
play, the team’s coach, Butch Hazel replied “Did he!”
when asked if the guard saved the day for his squad; the Bearcats blew
a 16 point second half lead, of which Hazel noted the team “Got
a bit tired in the second half” as “It’s tough with
six guys” facing a deep team.
We Are One used that depth to creep back in the game, with a full court
1-3-1 press backed by 2-3 zone, a primarly culprit.
Individually Maryland’s Adrian Bowie (31 points) was sensational, including three straight buckets, along with Memphis’ Darnell Dodson and Chris Matthews of St. Bonaventure, who dropped 15 and 14 points respectively.
With one minute in regulation, Bowie created a turnover and around five
seconds later scored, knotting the scoreboard at 69. The Bearcats attempted
more pick and roll offense – something that had been successful
for them - but couldn’t score.
Howard changed that in the first overtime, scoring its first and last
buckets via three pointers, the second at the buzzer forcing double OT.
He also rung up the second bonus period’s last points from the charity
stripe with four seconds on the clock, and for good measure, as Bowie’s
last second shot rimmed out.
Joining Howard as Bearcat standouts were Morgan State performers Rodney
Stokes (18 points) – providing an interior presence all game long
with key points plus rebounds - and Dwayne Jackson (19 points) –
who slashed, shot, and attacked the rim.
For today’s semi-final schedule, see www.twitter.com/ronbailey19.
For other quarterfinal action, click here