A last-second free throw boosted the visiting Christian Sports Ministry’s Green Team to a 79-78 fast-paced overtime victory over the San Quentin Kings in the season finale.
“It was a good game, but the turnovers at the wrong time killed us,” said Charles Sylvester.
In the fourth quarter, the Kings were up 68-65. Green Team power forward Bobby Williams in bounded the ball to shooting guard Ross Pusey. He ran to the corner three-point line and shot over a King defender, knocking down the three, tying the score with three seconds left in regulation.
The Kings’ attempt to make a play in the remaining seconds was stopped when Green Team center Tyree McCary swatted down the inbound pass. Williams picked up the loose ball and fired off a half-court shot that bounced off the rim, nearly going in.
“This is unlike any pick-up game anywhere. This atmosphere is great,” said Green Team guard Mike Picone.
In overtime, the Green Team controlled the opening tip, until Kings’ guard Tare “Cancun” Beltranchuc stole the ball from Pusey, ran down court and hit a pull-up jumper, starting a 6-1 Kings run.
Beltranchuc’s basket was followed by Sylvester stealing the ball from Picone as he crossed half-court, setting off a fast break. Sylvester found Thad Fleeton on his wing and dished him the ball. Fleeton hit a turn-around short-range jumper over Williams.
Williams was fouled on the next play and hit one of two free throws. With the ball back in his hands, Beltranchuc found Demond Lewis wide open. Lewis nailed the shot, making the score 75-69.
With their backs against the wall, the Green Team came out of a timeout and made a run. Pusey made a sweet pass in traffic to Williams, who scored the layup between two defenders, making it 75-73 Kings.
The Kings’ Fleeton responded with an and-one layup, completing the three-point play with a free throw, giving the Kings a commanding 78-73 lead.
The Green Team was not deterred. With a minute left, Pusey received the inbound pass from guard Picone and went coast-to-coast, weaving between Kings defenders for the layup off the backboard and closing the deficit to 78-75.
With 45 seconds left, the Kings tried to run the clock out, which forced the Green Team to foul King guard Brian Asey to stop the clock. Asey missed both critical free throws and rebounded his own miss, but lost the ball out of bounds.
Pusey quickly dribble-drove the ball down court toward the basket, which drew in the Kings defenders. He then passed the rock to wide open McCary, who swished the three-pointer, tying the score 78-78.
The Kings rushed the inbound pass. It bounced off Fateen Jackson’s hands. Williams picked the ball from the ground and headed for the basket, but was fouled. He made one of the two free throws, giving the Green Team a 79-78 point lead with five seconds left in overtime.
Time expired with the Kings down one after having led by six, leaving them in shock in the season finale.
“This is the best thing to do on a Saturday; the competition is good. I appreciate my situation much more,” Williams said.
Leading scorers for the Kings were J. “Mailman” Ratchford with 18, Fleeton 15, P. “Strange” Walker 11 and Sylvester 9.
Pusey led the Green Team with 27 points. Williams had 24, McCary 10 and Picone 6.
The Kings finished the season with an 11-10 record, but were 1-8 against the Green Team, whose only loss came when McCary wasn’t available.
“I came in here and never lost and next year will be the same,” said McCary.

Fast breaks and a talented bench lifted the San Quentin Kings over the visiting Bittermen basketball team, 74-60.
“Even though we lost, we love playing these guys,” said Bittermen center Todd Simms. “This has been a friendly rivalry for years and we will be back.”
The high-flying Kings opened up with a beautiful fast break. Kings 6-foot-2 point guard Oris “Pep” Williams ran the court with two forwards on his wings. Williams drove though the middle of the defense and faked a shot, which drew Simms off his feet. Then Williams threw a no-look pass over his shoulder to P. “Strange” Walker for the layup.
“I was Magic,” said Williams.
“That was a nice dish,” said one of the spectators among the crowd excited about the play.
Another outstanding moment happened in the third quarter. Walker rebounded a missed Bittermen three-point attempt and threw a long outlet pass to Brian Asey, who made the extra pass to Tare “Cancun” Beltran, who alley-oop passed it to small forward Antonio Manning for the layup.
“Run and gun; it was show time,” commented one of the Kings’ players.
The spectacular plays didn’t slow the Bittermen down. They used team chemistry to keep the game close, knocking down open threes. They also showed a strong presence inside with center Simms getting the offensive rebounds and put-backs for several baskets. Simms finished with 11 points.
Following a timeout, the Kings returned to the game playing a tight two-three zone defense. It kept the Bittermen off the boards and challenged the three-point shooting.
“That defense helped us manage the game better,” said Thad Fleeton.
The true game changers came from the Kings’ bench. The sharp shooting of Aubra-Lamont “Coocoo” McNeely and Charles “Pookie” Sylvester from behind the arc put the game out of reach for the Bittermen.
McNeely hit 3-5 for nine points. Sylvester went 3-7 for 10 points, making most of his shots in the second quarter. The Kings’ bench contributed 38 points, outdoing the starters by six points.
The starters were the workhorses, grinding it out against a strong, patient, organized team. Walker had 23 rebounds and eight points, Fleeton added 12 points and Demon Lewis chipped in 11.
At the end of the game, all the players from both teams formed a circle with their hands in the center raised high and cheered, “Celebrate community!”