Kettering, OH (AP) - Southwest Ohio was treated to one of the most thrilling events in decades last night. We're not talking about Jay Bruce hitting a walk off home run to clinch the NL Central Division title. We're referring to, of course, Team Shooters winning their opening game at the Kettering Recreational Center. It's always a little shaky when the team comes out for the first game, with many of them failing to touch a ball during the entire off season, but things can be especially tough when that game comes against Team Ballers, a team full of HUGE men.
Probably the biggest team, in terms of girth, that Team Shooters have ever come up against, Team Ballers intended upon playing a slow down, deliberate brand of basketball, taking advantage of the size discrepancy between the two teams. However, a team with Dan Kimble is not going to walk up and down the floor - they're going to push the ball at every opportunity. The thought process is that with Team Shooters running full bore each possession, it was only a matter of time before the giants of Team Ballers would drop.
At the start of the first half, the running by Team Shooters was making it tough on Team Ballers, but a lack of scoring by either team kept the score very tight. No more than 4 points separated the teams, and if not for the scrappy play of Mike Lehner, providing extra possessions with steals and deflections, Team Shooters might have found themselves in a tougher spot than anticipated. But they continued to push the ball, and even with shots not falling, they managed to always keep the lead. Finally, the team hit a couple shots - including three's by Dan Kimble and John Pallant - in the final minutes put them up by 12 heading into intermission. This served as a confidence booster, and left Team Shooters feeling good during the halftime show. But that confidence quickly faded, as Team Ballers methodically cut into the margin, cutting it to a score of 46-41 with about 7 minutes remaining. As things tightened on the scoreboard, Team Shooters knew that they had to respond. As they have thousands of times before, Team Shooters fell into a pattern on the perimeter, using a three man weave with backcourt players Zach Hensler, Ben Sicnolf and Dan Kimble. Overlapping one another, the team scored 9 points over three straight possessions - a three point play by Hensler, followed by a three point play by Sicnolf, and finally a three pointer by Hensler from the wing. This put the lead back into double digits where it would remain for the rest of the game. The final dagger came as Dan Kimble hustled to get a long offensive rebound. Backing off from Kimble, the opposition taunted Kimble by telling him to "Pull it!" Pull it he did, and he spiked the three ball to remove all doubt.
It felt good to get the win, and following the game, Coach John Beyer recognized that Team Shooters was approaching a milestone seldom reached in the world of rec basketball. They had won 19 straight games. They know that getting to 20 straight would be quite an achievement, but this team is taking nothing for granted. With more quality teams in this year's league, each week will be a much more difficult task than a season before.
Final Score - 63-45
Approximated Box Score, and short analysis:
John Beyer: 14 points, 2 blocks - Beyer was the most consistent scorer on the night, always running the floor and finishing the two-on-one breaks. As the team's power forward, made an impact on the block. Had two monster rejections on huge men - it was awesome.
Zach Hensler: 11 points, 2 blocks - Hensler was a double digit scorer, but easily the most important contribution he made to the team was the defense he played on the Team Ballers' post players. Probably the best defensive effort ever out of Hensler, no joke. The guy he was guarding for much of the game was like 6'5" and the size of an ox. Very solid outing out of Hensler.
Dan Kimble: 8 points, 6 rebounds - Kimble is the most athletic player on Team Shooters, and he uses that athleticism to consistently beat his man into the lane. Can push the ball when Sicnolf is out. Also spiked two huge threes at critical times.
Sam Lechleitner: 8 points, 10 rebounds - By his lofty standards, a rather pedestrian offensive game for Lechleitner, far and away the team's best player. But, as always, Sam controlled the boards and was the only inside presence for Team Shooters.
Mike Lehner: 5 points, 3 steals - Lehner may not always have the type of game that shows up in the boxscore - though he's been known to drop 20 points with no problem. But last night, he showed how you can affect a game without just putting the ball in the hoop. Lehner's active hands on defense and a pursuit of the ball made a huge impact on the game, especially in the first half when much of the team was listless.
John Pallant: 10 points, 4 rebounds - Pallant wasn't hitting his three's the way he normally does - to be expected in the season opener - but even when they aren't falling, his reputation as a dead eye stretches the opposing team's defense and allows for lanes for other players. Had two really tough finishes in the paint when the game started to get tight in the second half.
Ben Sicnolf: 7 points, 7 assists - Sicnolf is mostly a facilitator in this league. However, his speed with the ball continually set up 2-1 and 3-2 fast breaks, off of steals or offensive rebounds. Went 3-3 from the line and recorded about 10 deflections.
Game ball goes to: Dan Kimble. You could make an argument for Beyer or Hensler in this game - especially due to their defense - but Kimble was the easy choice here. Dan played perhaps his best overall rec league game in over a year. After taking a few minutes to get his legs at the start of the game, he continually made impact plays on both ends of the floor. Kimble was asked to defend all 5 positions at some point throughout the night, and always made it tough for his opponent. Offensively, no one can get into the paint from the wing like Kimble. He's a deserving recipient of this season's first O'Reilly Auto Parts Game Ball.
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