76ers vs. Kings
(Manhattan Youth)
The 76ers, coming off a disappointing loss last week to the Suns, were anxious to face Jeff Pine’s Kings in a recent Manhattan Youth basketball league game.
Lamont Williams stepped in and administered a basketball boot camp to the 76ers in the absence of their coach. Twenty-three seconds in, though, Zach Pine scored for the Kings. Coby Caraballo followed with a sweet shot from the corner, and the score was 4-0 Kings. Justin Wenig was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and made a free throw to put the 76ers on the board with four points. Then in another exciting play, Wenig rebounded from under the Kings basket, took it down court in a breakaway, and was fouled in the act of making his layup. He made both shots, and the score was 6-6. Pine was fouled in the act of shooting as well, making both the layup and his free throws. Alec Tullock scored for the 76ers and the first quarter ended with an 11-8 lead for the Kings.
Tullock closed the gap with a basket at the beginning of the second. Minutes passed with no score, as both teams turned the ball over and missed shots. Then Stapler made a good play, resulting in a basket for the Kings. Tyler Rohan did a great job of closing the middle to keep the Kings from cruising down the center. Tullock answered with his own basket, followed by a stellar three-pointer at the buzzer, putting the 76ers in the lead for the first time this season at 17-13!
In the third quarter, Stapler made a fine steal and took it down for a layup. Pine shot and scored to tie the game at 17. Stapler put the Kings back in the lead with another basket, and made one of his free throws when fouled. His second shot was plucked from the air by teammate Pine, who scored. Then the 76ers’ Mack Velle passed to Aidan Rogers, who scored. Will Merrill made a great play for the Kings and scored his first basket of the game. Velle started a fire for the 76ers, persevering under the basket and scoring three in a row for his team. Rohan’s breakaway was halted by the Kings’ defense, but his pass to Velle was converted to a sky hook, and at the whistle the 76ers were ahead 29-26.
At the start of the 4th, the Kings’ Gabe Leitner, who was all over the court, stole the ball. (When asked to comment on this, he said “That’s my job.”) But there were too many three second violations for the Kings, and they were unable to keep the ball long enough to score. Velle went coast to coast for another basket for the 76ers. His teammate Rogers made a fine bounce pass to Velle for another 2 points. Rogers and Rohan continued to play great defense for the 76ers. Max Ripps took a shot, but Caraballo’s defense kept him from scoring. Pine’s swoosh brought the Kings to 28 but the 76ers still held tough to their lead of 33. William Steere was brought in to guard his doppelganger Rohan, and forced the ball out of bounds. Pine was fouled and made one, but Velle was fouled while shooting (basket scored), and the final score was 76ers 35, Kings 29.
Salk at M.A.T
To face the M.A.T. Junior Varsity team, Salk brought along a couple of their Varsity squa. d, Matthew Tang (5’10”) and point guard Felipe Mansilla. Mansilla went right in for a basket to start the action for Salk. But even with the reinforced squad, Salk was only able to score 3 more points against the Chinatown school A-team (including Doug Stapler, Ryan Porcaro, Elijah Mateo, Jackie Lau, Coby Caraballo, Philippe Cox and Sammy Marciano.)
Porcaro was fouled and made one of the free throws, bringing the score to 2-1. Tang used his enormous height advantage to not only block many shots on defense, but gathered countless rebounds. His two-pointer brought Salk ahead 4-1. Porcaro evened it up by rebounding his own shot and scoring upside-down from under the basket. Caraballo’s free throw swish tied the game at four, but Dario Flores was fouled at the end of the quarter, sinking one more for Salk.
M.A.T.’s B-team (including Julian Rodriguez, Tyler Rohan, Ben Karam, Tyler Adams, Greg Mack, Sean Barton and John Ortiz) faced three of the same five in the second quarter, and were unable to prevent Elias Prince from scoring 20 seconds in. Flores added another, and Tang for the third unanswered basket, and the score was 13-4. Flores, after fouling Adams and playing very aggressive defense, scored again despite tough defense by Mack. Rohan made a sweet pass through the middle to Mack for M.A.T.’s first basket in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Larkin-Weber scored for Salk, and his teammate’s breakaway and resulting layup resulted in a frustrating 19-6 score for M.A.T.
After halftime, Stapler sunk an awesome three-pointer for M.A.T. Porcaro was fouled and made the first of two free throws. His second careened off the rim into the up-stretched arms of Stapler, who sunk it. M.A.T. continued to put the offensive pressure, but it seemed that most of the shots teased the net and came right back out. Stapler led the team with eight rebounds, and added another basket, ending the third quarter at 19-13.
Flores scored immediately in the fourth. Porcaro’s breakaway ended in another layup that rolled in, then out, of the basket. Rodriguez was fouled and sunk a free throw. Flores’ successful layup for Salk was followed by Karam’s basket, and the score was 23-15. The atmosphere was intense as M.A.T. struggled to close the gap. But there was no stopping Flores. He scored his 11th point with five minutes left in the game. Tang followed with another basket for Salk. The M.A.T. bench erupted when Porcaro passed it to Rohan who passed it to Mack, who sent it back to Porcaro, who tipped it to Rohan for his first of three baskets. His teammate Adams was fouled and made one free throw, but it wasn’t enough to catch up. Tang rebounded his own shot over and over until he scored the last basket for Salk. Mansilla did a great job of running out the clock, and the final score was 30-24, Salk.
