As hundreds of prisoners cheered, the San Quentin Kings basketball team produced enough strategic onslaughts to defeat the outside team Bittermen’s, 57-61.
On a bright, sunny Saturday morning, the Bittermen got within one point of the Kings after point guard Ted Saltveit, drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. However, with 3:40 seconds remaining in the game, the visitors’ offense went flat.
Kings’ point guard S. “Shakur” Pierce responded by tossing center P. “Strange” Walker a no-look pass inside the key. Walker made the easy three-foot turn-around, right-hand hook-shot, giving Pierce an assist, and decreasing the Kings lead to 54-58.
“We have fouls to give,” Saltveit said to his team during a timeout with a little less than a minute to go in the game. “We need to stop turning the ball over too.”
The Kings took control of the game by changing their strategy during half time.
Coach Orlando “Duck” Harris told his team, “We got to attack more. Talk, move the ball around better, and get rebounds.”
He said his defensive switches and balanced ball control made all the difference to their second half success.
Kings forward and Captain P. “Sweet Pea” Davidson came away with 11 points as his teams’ second-highest scorer.
“We are looking to go undefeated this season because of our experiences together as a working team,” said Davidson after the game. “We also have additional help from our big men like Strange and Thad Fleeton to give us control in the paint.”
Leading his team with four blocks, eight rebounds and 16 points, Kings’ center P. Walker said, “I should have been more explosive on offense. I should have had better footwork, and my and-ones went unfinished. I’ll get better because my teammates and my son, ‘Boom-Boom,’ motivate me to do so.”
“The Kings were just nailing their shots, especially, Sweet Pea and Strange,” a Bittermen player explained after the game. “They controlled the paint.”
