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!”