The San Quentin Kings opened the season on a sunny Saturday by beating a new visiting team called the Trailblazers, 78-65.
The Kings’ pressing defense and guard play by Oris “Pep” Williams helped keep the game under control.
Williams scored 18 points using his height and court vision to find the open man – mostly new shooting guard Marvin Cosby. He also scored 18.
“I felt good coming off my surgery and rehab,” said Williams. “Everybody on both teams played hard.”
Williams just recovered from an elbow injury that had him wearing a sling for weeks.
The Trailblazers bought their own one-man show with power forward Will Wheatley. He put on a clinic, scoring 29 points to lead all scorers. Wheatley dropped shots from in and outside the paint. The rest of the Trailblazers found themselves living and dying by the jump shot.
“Coming here is nothing like I thought. It’s very competitive; I enjoyed this better than playing outside,” said Wheatley.
The first quarter showed both teams were a little rusty. They took a lot of outside jump shots while continuing to find the right half-court spacing offensively.
The Kings closed the first quarter with a 17-15 lead.
“This is a new team (Trailblazers); this is the first time we are playing together. We just have to find that right combination of players,” said Trailblazer player/coach Ted Saltviet.
Both teams finally settled down in the second quarter. The Trailblazers had to get most of their points off of long rebounds and fast breaks.
The Kings ended the half with a 39-31 lead, generated by steals and blocked shots from center J. “Mailman” Ratchford.
“We did well. We need to rebound better. Our half-court defense is good, but our transitional defense needs work,” said Kings assistant coach Ishmael Freelon of the March 21 contest.
The Kings came out fast-breaking and running in the second half. Kings guard Tare “Cancun” Beltran’s speed broke down the Trailblazers’ defense. He spun in the lane, dropping lay-up after lay-up.
The Kings racked up a 57-40 point lead, which promoted a Trailblazers time out call. Saltviet came off the bench and immediately drained a three-point shot that started an 8-1 Trailblazers run. They ended the third quarter down 10 points.
Ten points was the closest the Trailblazers would get. The Kings’ Demond Lewis’ shots started dropping and Thad Fleeton’s mid-range game came to life. Both players struggled in the first half, but produced when it counted, stopping the Trailblazers’ comeback.
The Kings bench only managed to score 20 points overall, but the team appeared well balanced and talented.
The Trailblazers will be back after shaking off the first game jitters.
“It takes a while to get used to playing here; everybody is watching you, but everybody is really nice,” said Trailblazer guard Aiden, referring to a gallery of about 20 inmates.
Kings backup center, T. “Detroit” Long added, “I really enjoy playing the outside teams; it helps to demonstrate to the community that we are really people.”