Shooters Back on Track

Team Shooters were as hungry as we've ever seen them heading into Tuesday's match up against BW3's. Having had a consecutive win streak of over 20 games snapped, any team would want to get right back into the gym to start another run. Unfortunately, back to back bye weeks derailed the return of Team Shooters to the hardwood for 20 days. But shaking off the rust, Team Shooters used a masterful game from long range bomber John Pallant to defeat BW3's by 10 to begin a new streak.

The game started out as a defensive battle, with neither team managing more than 4 points in the game's opening 10 minutes. Despite some early frustrations on the offensive side of the ball, Team Shooters displayed their patented lock down defense, holding BW3's until their offense could begin to pick up the slack. Eddie Marrinan was able to hold their front court players at bay, with his bruising style of play. The Shooters began to find their groove offensively when John Pallant - who thus far into the season has not met the lofty expectations had by himself and his teammates in terms of 3-point shooting - bombed in back to back three's to give the team their first lead. "We've always said that when Pallant is hitting, we're a tough team to beat. It opens up so much inside for our banger John Beyer, and allows Kimble to punish teams from the wing." The game stayed tight, however, throughout the first half, and Team Shooters found themselves trailing by two with 15 seconds remaining. That's when point guard Ben Sicnolf secured a deflection and pushed it up the court. Passing ahead, Dan Kimble attacked the paint. Drawing Pallant's defender, Kimble kicked leaving the sharp shooter wide open. As he hoisted the shot, you could see the heads of the BW3's defenders drop. The ball swished through, and Team Shooters went into the locker room with a 1 point half time lead.

The three point shooting of Pallant seemed to give confidence to everyone on the team, as Sicnolf, Beyer and Hensler (2) each hit three pointers in the second half. However, Team Shooters couldn't shake the pesky BW3's squad, and found themselves ahead by just 2 with 7 minutes remaining. That's when Pallant again hit back to back three-pointers to give the Shooters some breathing room. At this point, BW's came out of their 2-3 zone, and attempted to play man-to-man. Shooters spread the floor, and Kimble took the manhood of the man guarding him by beating him off the dribble for a short runner to effectively put the game away. After a couple free throws, the game was a wrap. Team Shooters 51 - BW3's 41.

Asked after the game about his barrage of long balls (7-10 from three), Pallant said, "I just try to fill my role on the team. Everyone brings something to the table. My teammates continually penetrate and are able to get me open looks - it's up to me to knock them down."

Game MVP and Approximated Box Score

John Beyer - 7 points, 5 rebounds - Beyer had a flashback to the Ping, when he spiked a high arcing 26 foot 3 point shot in the second half. Beyer continually found open spots in the middle of BW3's zone. This forced the team to collapse, and allowed for more open outside shots for Hensler and Pallant, and was a key to jumpstarting the offense.

Zach Hensler - 10 points, 8 rebounds - Hensler struggled with foul trouble for much of the game, picking up his fourth in the first 20 seconds of the second half. However, Hensler is a heady ball-player, and knows how to play the game no matter the situation. He banged in two three pointers, and had a nice lay-in during the first half run that got Team Shooters their initial lead.

Dan Kimble - 4 points, 6 rebounds - As stated before, Kimble did his part by taking the manhood of his opponent to close out the game. Immediately recognizing that the "shitty guard" would have to defend either himself or Sicnolf, he told his team to spread the floor and to attack whoever the "shitty guard" was guarding. That became Kimble, and Kimble drove on back to back plays, setting up a three in the corner for Pallant, and following it with a bucket of his own.

Eddie Marrinan - 0 points, 10 rebounds - Known for his dominance on the soccer field, this two-sport star showed he's more than a bruiser on the pitch. Eddie has filled in admirably for absent Team Shooter's big man Sam. He defends the post and rebounds so well, that his opponents get frustrated EVERY game. Very quick outlet after he gets boards. That may seem like it's not a huge deal, but getting the ball to Kimble and Sicnolf in a hurry sets up their early offense.

John Pallant - 24 points, 7-10 from three - Stroked the ball incredibly well from deep. You could tell early that Pallant was feeling it, and he let them fly all night, destroying the will of his opponents with each deep ball sunk. Played well on defense, and moved very well without the ball on offense, finding gaps against the zone.

Ben Sicnolf - 6 points, 8 assists - Sicnolf didn't shoot particularly well from the field, but he had perhaps his best game setting up his teammates for shots in good positions.

Mountain Dew Code Red Game Ball - John Pallant - This was the easiest decision of the year. Pallant's back might be tired from all the three balls he was hoisting, and from the added weight of carrying his entire team offensively. This is the type of performance that can spring board a player into again becoming an all-league performer, and putting this team in contention for back-to-back crowns. If Pallant can shoot like that, the sky is the limit for this team in the post season.

Stay tuned for TWO ADDITIONAL posts this week - Team Shooters continues their season tomorrow night, while the Dayton-Cincinnati Megalopoli begin their indoor soccer season on Thursday.