Marvel McCaskill, A Battery, 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, takes a jump shot during Monday’s game against 286th Signal Company (Team A) at Milam Gym. Photo by Dustin Perry.
Team breakdown costs 286th first b-ball loss of season
Dustin perry, Editor
Considering his team’s seven-point lead and the fact that their opponents had all but given up, one could excuse Luis Almodovar for shooting the ball like a second-rate Globetrotter in the closing seconds of Monday’s basketball game.
After no less than two instances of inter-team fighting in the final nine minutes of play, the previously undefeated players of 286th Signal Company (Team A) lost any momentum they may have had and slowly devolved into a team void of any actual teamwork. Hence, the soon-to-be-victorious players of A Battery, 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, saw no reason to overexert themselves or even play seriously.
The final score was 48-41, but spectators of the game could see it was over about midway through the second half, when 286th’s Tim Bennett left the gym in a huff following an argument with a teammate. That sudden breakdown of the team’s dynamic hindered them in a way from which they could not recover.
“Once they had that little dispute amongst themselves, we just took advantage of it,” said Almodovar. “They had the momentum with them but that (dispute) took a lot of it away from them, so we just started to push the ball harder and forced them to commit a lot of turnovers.”
Prior to that, it appeared 286th could have easily come away with the win. Although the first half ended with them leading by a mere three points, the fluidity of their offense and their relentless defense seemed to only get better as the game progressed. Chris Jones scored 12 points and Bennett scored eight.
The seven members of A 1-43 were not without their own standout players, either. Brandon Benefield put the first points of the game on the board with a three-pointer in the opening seconds and earned a total of 14 points in the first half. Almodovar, a short player who compensated with blazing speed, earned five of his 12 points in the first 20 minutes.
Jason Ennis, A 1-43, blocks a shot by Chris Jones, 286th (Team A). Photo by Dustin Perry.
Near the 11-minute mark in the second half is when it happened. Bennett and the rest of his team were traveling down the court after a turn on defense when he and teammate Alexander Mistretta began shoving and shouting at each other. Their coach tried to break it up, but to no avail. Bennett grabbed his gear and exited the floor.
From there, the game more or less belonged to A 1-43. They scored 17 more points compared to only eight from 286th and eventually improved their record to 5-1, sliding them into first place in the 11th ADA league standings as of press time.
“At the end, we just started getting lazy, making lazy passes and not playing like a team like we usually do,” said Jones. “There was just a lot of crazy stuff going on. A lot of people started getting frustrated, and we started making bad decisions with the ball.
“It was a close game, and we’re not used to close games,” he added. “We just need to learn to settle down in tight situations.”