It was another great night for basketball at the Grown Up Sports Thursday Night Adult Men’s Recreational Basketball league at Lutheran High North in the Houston Heights. Let’s take a look at a recap of the nights action.
The H.A.T.A.S. v. Bballneverstops
On first glance, this appeared to be a colossal mismatch. The H.A.T.A.S. are huge and Bballneverstops are small. Early predictions would have indicated The H.A.T.A.S. just pound the ball inside and dominate. And to start the game, they did just that, dumping it inside to Darnell Cooper who got to the line with regularity. When he wasn’t attacking the bucket, Josh Meadow was making it rain from the next county. But as we all know… Bballneverstops…. never stop and showed their heart. With Minh Pham nailing the downtown long ball, Bballneverstops looked prime for the upset. However, their hopes took a big shot when the heart of the team Son Pham went down with a knee injury (one that has kept him out of the NBA for 5 years now). With the team reeling, Lee Hoang looked at his squad and said “I Got This” and turned it up a notch, nailing threes and slicing to the bucket with a fearless aggression. Unfortunately, The H.A.T.A.S. brought out leading scorer Kevin Charles, whose athletic prowess proved too much for Bballneverstops, as they eeked out the victory.
GUS Player of the Game: Kevin Charles (The H.A.T.A.S.): 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals
The H.A.T.A.S. win 63 – 58 (see Box Score)
Block Party (BP) v. G.S.D.
Block Party looked to be prime for a title after their week one harassment of Dark Thunder. G.S.D. had other ideas. Through one half, the teams looked fairly evenly matched. That’s when G.S.D. got ish done, blazing to an 11-0 run to start the half and never looking back. Rod Walker did his best to keep BP in it, but the lead was too much to overcome as the team looked out of sync from the beginning and never really found a rhythm. But the real story was G.S.D.. On the broad shoulders of the mighty Jason Loh, G.S.D. ran the floor effortlessly, and piled on the points as they will be apt to do throughout the season. Loh really did it all, pulling in 9 boards, scampering across the floor for the pull up J and fast break lay in, or finding his teammates open for big shots. Add in the defense of Seth Hansboro, and G.S.D. looks like a team not to be trifled with.
GUS Player of the Game: Jason Loh (G.S.D.): 14 points, 9 rebouns, 3 assists, 2 blocks
G.S.D. wins 53-47 (see Box Score)
Matt Bullard’s On Parade v. Dark Thunder
Matt Bullard is one of the great American hero’s of the twentieth century, so it is fitting that the team with the team named for him is running roughshod through the league. Anchored by great ball movement and stifling defense (both staples of Bullard’s game), Matt Bullard’s on Parade harassed Dark Thunder into forced shots and turnovers that led to easy buckets. A dark cloud hovered over Dark Thunder most of the day as they couldn’t buy a basket. Dark Thunder can take away a few positives though, as Jon Gonzales seemed to find his stroke down the stretch, and Dylan Flosi has established himself as one of the preeminent rebounders in the GUS Leagues. However the real takeaway from the game is that Matt Bullard’s on Parade has truly become a dominant force in the mold of their namesake, so much so, that even the great Bullard himself has taken notice.
Champions? Lofty expectations but expectations that appear to be destined to be met.
GUS Player of the Game: Grant Jefferson (Bullards): 10 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Matt Bullard’s on Parade win 65-27 (see Box Score)
Old School Ballers v. New Era
And what a way to finish the night, as two of what seem to be the top teams in the league squared off. The Old School… versus the New Era… Which would prevail? New Era really took it to Old School to start the game, with a display of outside shooting including several threes from Zain Hussain and Harris Khaaaaaaann. But Old School Ballers wouldn’t go away and played the old fashioned way… with brute force, getting three the old fashioned way. Led by the interior presence of Carlos Anaya and Guillermo Gonzalez, the Twin Towers, Old School Ballers looked primed to sneak away with a victory. But Corey Castrey wouldn’t have it, nailing a pair of threes late in the second half to give New Era some breathing room. However, Old School wouldn’t go away, and ultimately it was a technical foul on an illegal substitution that proved to be their undoing. After nailing the free throws, Zain Hussain nailed the dagger three from the corner to put the game away for good. If we learned anything, it is that the Old School Ballers are for real, but it is truly a New Era.
GUS Player of the Game: Corey Castrey (New Era): 16 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals
New Era wins 51-44 (see Box Score)
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And that’s all I wrote. See you all next time. Don’t forget to look us up on Facebook and Like Us! for links to more pictures as well as updates on when the recaps and stats are posted. Until next time…..
-Favor