MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Aircraft Group 12 took the first-place trophy at the Commander’s Cup three-point Basketball Shootout competition at the IronWorks Gym here March 19.
With a total of 37 points, MAG- 12 dominated over the other units in the competition, taking home the championship.
Winning the second-place trophy was Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron with a total of 29 points.
The competition was a combination of many of the units stationed here from H&HS to medical.
“The competition was pretty good. More people showed up than I thought would show up,” said Pfc. William A. Chatman Jr., MAG-12 three-point shooter.
Each unit had a total of two two-man teams to represent the unit. Each team had two twominute rounds to score as many points as possible before time ran out.
The rules were as follows: One player would shoot from the three-point line while the other teamate caught rebounds and passed the ball back to the shooter until a basket was made. Once the shooter made a basket the players would alternate positions back and forth until their time ran out. The team with the most overall points after everyone played two rounds was the winner of the competition.
“I think we were confident, and once the challanges started getting closer, we knew that we had to step it up, so we stepped it up,” said Lance Cpl. Nathan M. Hamman, MAG-12 three-point shooter.
Even the MAG-12 Headquarters commanding officer Maj. Wayne Magrisi did his part in competing on one of the two MAG-12 teams in the competition.
Hamman said everyone from MAG-12 who competed in the shootout played basketball prior to their Marine Corps careers, so the team was highly confident going into the competition.
Chatman and Hamman said they were chosen to represent the MAG-12 team based on their performance during basketball physical training sessions and recreational basketball games the unit participated in before going into the competition.
“When we came out here, we had more guys than we needed, so we shot around for a while to see who would be the best two guys for the competition, and they chose us,” said Hamman.
Hamman said the game of basketball is fun for a lot of people, so the three-point shootout was a good way to connect with alot of the Marines stationed here.
“Getting here last month, these competitions helped a lot,” said Chatman. “I don’t know a lot of people, and I get to know people through competition and sports, so it’s just another networking(tool).”
MAG-12 came into the competition with its A-game and succeded in taking the competition by storm. With constant practice, MAG-12 came in the competition ready to win, and as far as the Commanders Cup goes, there will be many more to come.