IWAKUNI, Japan - G-SUPP ran through CPZ 39-9 during an intramural basketball season game at the IronWorks Gym sports courts here April 26.
CPZ won the toss up. Jarale T. Holland, CPZ point guard, attempted a layup but was fouled. He was two for two coming off the line making the score 2-0. T.J. Ferguson, G-SUPP power forward, ran through the CPZ defense to sink a layup, evening the score 2-2.
Rabosky Tanner, G-SUPP point guard, stole the ball and drove down the court for a layup, giving G-SUPP the lead 4-2. Zach C. Host, G-SUPP shooting guard, stole the ball and gave Tanner an assist to gain another two points putting the score at 6-2.
An assist is a pass from one player to their teammate, which leads directly to a field goal, or scored basket. CPZ fired back with a jump shot by Immanuel R. Colon, CPZ power forward making the score 6-4.
The G-SUPP players brought the defensive hammer down on CPZ when the G-SUPP players kept pressure on the ball and capitalized on steals.
“Defense wins games,” Tanner said. “Stopping the other team’s offense and getting quick layups is how to get ahead.”
With 11 minutes left in the first half, G-SUPP brought its score up to 14-4.
Kyle P. Strausbach, G-SUPP center, and Tanner kept their team’s momentum going with a 3-pointer and three back-to-back layups from steals gaining a huge 19-point lead at 23-4. Christopher Farmer, CPZ shooting guard, kept his team in the game when he sank a 3-pointer putting the score at 23-7.
“We used a 2-3 zone press to put pressure on the CPZ offense and force them to give us the ball on every push they made,” said William A. Chatman, G-SUPP shooting guard.
A 2-3 zone press is when two players on the defense take up positions toward center court while the three other players stay by the basket. The two players at center court put pressure on the ball carrier and force him either to the left or right side to box him out at the baseline or to double team him and steal the ball.
The G-SUPP defense stopped the CPZ players from advancing again and kept pressure on the ball.
Tanner led the next onslaught with a layup. Drevonn Fluellen, G-SUPP small forward, sank a 3-pointer followed by layups from Derrius R. Beverly, G-SUPP center, and Ferguson giving G-SUPP a 25-point lead 32-7.
With 40 seconds left in the first half, Bryan Taylor, CPZ power forward, made it through the G-SUPP defense to sink a layup, ending the first half at 32-9.
Since CPZ had fewer points, it started the second half with possession. Strausbach quickly stole the ball and sank another 3-pointer putting the score at 35-9. Strausbach’s shot from downtown pumped up his team. Host stole the ball again and passed to Tanner who was alone in CPZ territory for an easy layup making the score 37-9. The G-SUPP defense kept the CPZ offense at bay for the next few minutes.
Chatman snatched the ball and drove down the court and sank a jump shot setting the score at 39-9. G-SUPP kept CPZ running in circles until time ran down to 8 minutes. The referee called the mercy rule into effect and the game ended in favor of G-SUPP.
The mercy rule ends the game if one team is ahead by 30 or more
points at eight minutes left in the game.
“The game went one way, our way.” Tanner said.
The CPZ team used the loss as a learning experience for future games.
“We need to work on teamwork,” said Robert J. Franke, CPZ center. “When we were making passes we were penetrating G-SUPP’s defense. The problem was we were missing a lot of the passes. That’s something we’re going to work on during practice.”
CPZ has time to work on its down falls.
The next time these two teams are scheduled to go toe-to-toe on the court is May 9 at 7 p.m. at the IronWorks Gym sports courts.