MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Knicks won first place over the Magic during their final match in the Youth Basketball regular season at the IronWorks Gym here March 30.
The Magic started out with a rough beginning, being down by 8 points in the first half of the game, but they made a strong comeback toward the end of the game and gave the Knicks a run for their money.
“They had about three key players who made a difference and ended up tying the game at one point,” said Steve A. Navar, Knicks coach.
During the first period of the game, the Knicks displayed an aggressive offensive strategy. The Knicks constantly looked for openings, set up shots and made baskets.
“The Knicks played pretty hard,” said Raymond Sawejko, Magic assistant coach. “They were picking apart our defense in the start, but as we were watching the game progress, we started to pick up on what they were throwing at us.”
By half time, the game was being controlled predominately by the Knicks, but at the start of the second half, Sawejko decided to change the Magic’s gameplan to compensate for the Knicks’ strong offense.
“We started watching their team and started picking out their defense. We went from zone defense to man-to-man defense,” said Sawejko. “We started concentrating on our shots a little bit more, and the team started playing together.”
With .5 seconds left on the game clock, the Knicks led 24 to 22. The Magic had possession of the ball and called a timeout. The Magic used the .5 seconds to take a final shot but missed at the buzzer. The Knicks won with a final score of 24 to 22.
During recent practices, the Knicks have been working more on passing and offensive plays, which instead of letting one man dominate makes each player more proficient offensively.
“One of the biggest problems we had in the past is that it used to be a one-man team,” said Navar. “Now the team is working as a whole instead of individually.”
Although the regular season is over, Navar is confident the improvement the Knicks have shown during the regular season will lead them to winning the playoffs.
“We were real confident. The team is really starting to come together as a whole,” said Navar. “When our team comes together, we’re a hard team to beat and we’re going to be hard to beat during the playoffs.”
The Knicks may have won the season, but according to Sawejko, taking second place in the season is not going to slow the Magic down from bringing their “A-game” in the playoffs.
“The Knicks and the Magic were tied going into the playoffs,” said Sawejko, “This game was the deciding factor for the first place position, but I’m fine with second place. We’ll take them in the playoffs.”
The Youth Basketball playoffs began Saturday. For additional information on game standings and schedules, call the Marine Corps Community Services Youth Sports Division at 253-5777.