MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Sho Stoppaz beat out The Roc Boyz 50 – 40 during the Make The Dream Real basketball tournament at the IronWorks Gym sports courts here Saturday.
The fierce tournament started out as any ones guess as to who the winner would be, or so the audience thought with the Sho Stoppaz players getting their sixth consecutive championship.
The Sho Stoppaz dominated each of their competitors, starting with th IHOOPS, comprised of installation personnel administration center Marines, 52-28.
“(The IHOOPS) were a pretty tough team,” Darius Harpe, Show Stoppaz coach said. “We adjusted our defense, and then we ended up winning by 20-plus points.”
The Show Stoppaz then faced the Roc Boyz for the first time in the tournament. Showing the Roc Boyz who owned the court, the Sho Stoppaz won 51-40.
“We always have to adjust our strategy,” Harpe said. “Different teams are going to come at you different ways. You have to be ready to switch your defense and offense up and let the veteran leadership step up.”
The Roc Boyz got another chance to play against the Sho Stoppaz by beating Fil-Am 47-25 in the losers’ bracket playoffs.
It was a meeting of epic proportions when the Roc Boyz squared off against the Sho Stoppaz for a second time.
In the first 10 minutes of the game, the ball had shifted possession a large amount of times considering the low score.
The Roc Boyz pulled ahead 19-18 at the end of the first half. The Sho Stoppaz players got the lead back when they stepped up their defense and played team ball.
“Some things weren’t going our way,” Fabyen Robinson, Sho Stoppaz center and MVP, said. “We just had to change up our strategy to get the win.”
With that game plan in mind, the Sho Stoppaz took a four-point lead halfway through the second half.
Rabosky Tanner, Sho Stoppaz point guard, awed the crowd by breaking down any one of the Roc Boyz players who tried to go toe to toe with him.
“He could drive to the hole and dish it or feed it to the big man or lay it up,” Harpe said of Tanner.
The Sho Stoppaz finished with a 10-point lead by the end of the second half 50-40, reiterating the point it made earlier in the tournament — the Sho Stoppaz do the stopping.
The Sho Stoppaz players just try to overwhelm and surprise their opponents to get as many buckets as they could, said Tanner.
“Once we get the rebound, everyone knows their roles,” Tanner said.
After the dust settled on the court and it was time to hand out the trophies, Harpe showed good sportsmanship by expressing how well the Roc Boyz played against his Sho Stoppaz.
“Congratulations to the Roc Boyz for making it to the championship game,” Harpe said. “My next announcement is that this is officially the end of the Sho Stoppaz. Somebody else can be the champion next time.”
With their coach disbanding their winning team, this win was bittersweet for the Sho Stoppaz players, but they went out as champions.