MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Intramural Basketball season commenced with The Sho Stoppaz taking first place during the 2010 Spring Basketball Tournament at the IronWorks Gym basketball courts here April 24.
The tournament started out with eight competing teams and came down to a match between the Sho Stoppaz and 1 Lov. The Sho Stoppaz came out on top 42 to 39.
The final game started out slow with 1 Lov having the disadvantage, having just played their last game 10 minutes before hand.
Tired and cramping up, 1 Lov players struggled to keep up with the Sho Stoppaz who sought to dominate the game early on. Refusing to be beaten so easily, 1 Lov players put up good defensive strategy, making things tougher for the Sho Stoppaz.
Despite the difficulties, the Sho Stoppaz were able to keep their hands on the ball, setting up shots and making baskets for most of the first half.
Going into halftime, the Sho Stoppaz had created a comfortable 23-16 lead.
“I wanted to push the ball because I knew they were tired,” said Darius Harpe, Sho Stoppaz coach. “We kind of kept slowing the ball down instead of pushing the ball down their throat. We should have kept pushing, and kept pushing and kept pushing, but we didn’t push, and we let them get back in the game.”
Early in the second half, the Sho Stoppaz lost the lead as the score kept going back and forth between the two teams.
With a few seconds left on the clock toward the end of the second half, and the score board reading 42 to 39, the game intensified as 1 Lov struggled to take the lead or at least tie the game.
The buzzer sounded and signalled the end of the final game of the tournament. Harpe said he thought the final game of the tournament was definitely the hardest one played throughout the day.
“We had a lot of players that were starting to cramp,” said Harpe. “I just want to take my hat off to my guys. They stuck in there and kept their composure and found a way to win the game.”
Although they lost the game and won second overall in the tournament, Napoleon Nation, 1 Lov’s coach, had nothing but good things to say about the tournament and the final game.
“Both teams played hard,” said Nation. “We got out there and fought. We were down by sixteen, and we end up losing by three. What more can you ask for as a coach?”
As for the tournament, it was good and brought out some good players that deserved a big round of applause, said Nation.