Open League – Week 1 Recaps
Open League Week 1
Team Faircloth 49 – Team Varnado 39
Team Faircloth:
Team Faircloth and Team Varnado were the first to experience the return to LSD on the big (huge) court. The court seemed to get bigger as the game progressed. The shotmaking conversely regressed. But that’s to be expected early in the season. The game was a battle from start to finish, with TF pulling away at the end for a 49-39 win. Josh Wilson led TV, making smooth bucket after smooth bucket. Note to the league: he’s still unguardable. Captain Varnado and his sidekick Brad Moses kept TV humming, making TF earn every defensive stop and offensive bucket. Kevin Tate and Jeremy Jenny were their usual relentless (and annoying) selves. Indeed, Jenny and Captain Faircloth confirmed they each ran 6 miles during the game. Brutal!
TF held a 3-point lead with a few minutes left in the game. A huge 3 by Patton Brantley and a big stop on defense gave TF a 6-point advantage as time waned. TF then connected on a bucket and hit a free throw to go up 9. After another defensive stop, TF knew it could run out the clock for the win. Kevin “Get on the Gus Bus” Coogan, however, inexplicably decided to drive the paint for a two-handed monster dunk. The attempt was unsuccessful.
Hoang set the pace for TF, while Emmett W. and Danton A. provided crucial minutes off the bench. Jimmy Robbins proved yet again shooting 3s and free throws is just like a 3-foot putt for birdie…automatic. A true team effort made it happen. TF now awaits a matchup with 41 PW at PARDS, the site of Mr. Walker’s recent MVP season.
Walk-On’s Attendance: Faircloth, Robbins. A pitiful performance. We will get this cleaned up.
Team Varnado:
?? Must have taken the loss hard. Very sad.
Team Sumner 58 – Team Troullier 45
Team Troullier:
Rough start for Team Troullier in game opener verse Team Sumner. I have to say that court seemed a lot longer than I remember. The first have we played Team Sumner really close but second half I think we ran out of gas because we had no bench. Team Sumner had good looks the second half and they went in. James Blakeman shot really well for us. Team Sumner got the W though. Maybe we will see them in the playoffs.
Team Sumner:
Their team came out pretty hot. Vic and Blakeman made some outside shots but we were scoring back and forth with them. They were a little short handed with 6 so they played a zone against us which slowed the pace of the game down. I think we cleaned up the paint on defense not letting them get a bunch of second shots. Desselle and Damon lead some fast breaks for us and Hawkins and Roussel were physical guarding their 2 big men. We had control of the game most of the second half so we moved the ball around patiently and got some open looks.
Missing Freeman
Team Arcement 70 – Team Navarre 54
Team Arcement:
We came out hot and shot well in the first half scoring 42. Which was good because like everyone else as the game went on it got sloppy and the first game legs showed up. We were up 25 at one point in the second half but credit to Navarre’s team for not giving up. They cut into the lead in the 4th to make it a little closer. Missed FTs and turnovers didn’t help us but we hung on.
Scoring was spread around as we hit 16 threes total as a team – 21 from Nelson, 16 from Steve, 13 from Arcement, and 12 from Pecue. Linx did a great job on the glass and defending the paint. Harger played well on defense and DeRouen came off the bench hitting 2 big threes.
Team Navarre:
Team Arcement started the game off hot nailing a bunch of 3’s. They continued to hit 3’s the entire game, 16 of em. Nelson did most of the scoring, but they have plenty of other guys who can shoot.
We made a little run in the 2nd half but couldn’t hit enough shots to close the gap. Team Navarre is out of shape and the bigger court will take some getting used to.
Team Pearce 33 – Team Albin 43
?? Something about Corey Eues scoring as many points as Pearce’s team.
Team Alexander 64 – Team Hebert 49
Team Alexander:
Team Alexander started the game very efficiently by playing good defense and making open looks. Scott led the team with thirteen first half points and Murphy did his thing from mid-range. Butcher sprinkled in two wide open threes and an easy two. Landry got lucky by making a second look from three with his eyes closed and M. Walker also added three hard earned points to the half. Team Hebert started out slow in the first but gained momentum in the second and third quarter to get the game tied. Team Alexander missed some short-range opportunities in the third but continued to drain threes from downtown beginning with Scott and a no-doubter from M. Walker. With a dismal 8 points in the third, Team Alexander stepped on the gas in the fourth scoring 21 to end the game with a minute left. Scott became the facilitator with two converted free throws. Butcher had two more threes and a layup. Murphy, M. Walker, and CT added easy buckets. Even Landry hit another eye-closed three from the corner finishing two for three from long range. Team Alexander leads the league in three-point percentage after week one with at least 60% and they also lead the league in fouls… I bet you can’t guess why!?!
Team Alexander is 1-0 but they are lucky and made shots they will never make again.
Team Hebert:
?? Must have known how good Alexander’s write up would be.