| | BASELINE NEWS & REPORT   | Mayas-USA overcomes huge hole to get by Ravia-Rebels, 118-115... | | | | | | |  | #s# Arnold | Brown | Dorsey | Hamilton | Anderson | #e#6 Dorsey downs 25 points in final period to propel Mayas...
Lilburn, GA (May 18, 2007) - For the better part of three quarters, a hot-shooting Rodney Kirtz (6'3''-G) and Golden Ingle (5'11''-G-81) helped Ravia roll over a road-weary, lackluster Mayas-USA squad. But, a hobbled Bobby Brown (6'6''-F-79), with his shear heart and desire, almost forced his teammates to wake up after trailing by as many as 26 points. MaJic Dorsey (6'1''-G-81) fed off Brown's hustle and took over the game, scoring 25 fourth-quarter points to lead Mayas to a 118-115 come from behind win at Berkmar High School on Friday night.
Ravia jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game, as Mayas struggled to find good looks at the basket. Golden Ingle and Wayne Arnold each knocked down treys and David Monds scored several buckets in the paint to help Ravia build a 31-20 lead after one quarter.
Monds continued his hot hand in the second period and Rodney Kirtz got heated up with consecutive 3-pointers from the right wing. Meanwhile, Mayas, still struggling to find a groove, repeatedly launched off-balanced, forced shots. Mid-way through the period, Dorsey who scored 48 points in the Mayas win over Floyd the night before, had only mustered three points against the aggressive Rebel defense. Ravia pushed its lead out to 50-24 at one point, as Mayas looked completely out of sorts and fatigued.
Then, Dorsey drove the lane for a couple of buckets and center Jeff Daisley (7'2''-C-83) dropped a baby hook in the lane, followed by a offensive rebound and put back, to breath life into Mayas. Mayas' run trimmed the Ravia lead down to 16. But, again... Ravia got big buckets from Monds and Doug Underwood to re-build their spread to 22. The Rebels took a comfortable 62-42 lead into the break.
Early in the third stanza the two teams traded baskets, with Ravia maintaining its cushion. Ravia's offensive production seemed to be coming easier with precision ball-movement, even once whipping the ball as many as five times before finding a wide-open Kirtz at the top of the key for a clean three-pointer. Mayas, was beginning to battle though. Brandon Hartley got a lay in off of a Brown steal, then Reo Logan grabbed a loose ball under the basket after a transition-miss and converted. Brown triggered another turnover, and received a pass on the run from Dorsey, connected and drew a foul. He hit the old-fashioned three-point-play, then subsequently executed the same on the next possession. Brown tallied 12 consecutive Mayas points, to ignite his teammates, who had finally decided to get their juices flowing. Ravia was not simply giving in though, with Mayas streaking, Ronald Chinchilla got free under the basket and dropped a shot. Ravia still held a double-digit lead. But, Mayas had turned what could've been a rout, into a game with comeback potential. Dorsey kept that hope alive by closing the quarter with a couple of three-pointers. The Rebels, though on their heels, still led 87-74 going into the final 12-minutes.
Dorsey drove the lane on consecutive trips, hitting a floater, then a runner off the glass on the right side and Mayas was with in single-digits for the first time since early in the game. On the ensuing defensive stand, Ravia coughed up the ball as Brown instigated another steal. Brown turned to make the pass ahead and went to the ground, clutching his knee. The fear of further damage to his sore knee turned out to be a severe cramp. He was forced to leave the game, which seemingly damaged Mayas hopes of completing a comeback. But, Dorsey proceeded to show why he is called "MaJic." The shots that had been errant the previous two and half quarters, began to fall with pin-point precision. Golden Ingle desparately tried to quell the momentum change, hitting two 28-foot tri-fectas, while also providing hard-nosed defense head-to-head on Dorsey. With Ravia's lead down to 94-91, Dorsey hit a trey, then attacked the lane for another basket. Ravia's offense went stagnant, as Mayas' trapping defense forced quick shots. After drawing a foul, Dorsey hit two freethrows to finally knot the score at 96-all. Then, after another Ravia mis-cue, Dorsey fed Hartley on the right side in transition, to give Mayas its first lead of the game with 3:58 remaining.
Mayas would go up 101-96, before Ravia's Joe Hamilton answered with a two-handed slam, cutting it down to three. Dorsey would connect again later with a fadeaway shot on the left baseline, putting Mayas up 108-103. With just under a minute left and after sitting most of the fourth quarter, Kirtz re-entered with his Rebles trailing 116-112. After forcing a Mayas miss, Ravia worked the ball to an open Kirtz, who was errant on a three-point attempt with 13 seconds left on the clock. Forced to foul, Ravia put Dorsey on the freethrow line. Dorsey hit both pushing the score to 118-112. Quickly inbounding, Ravia got the ball to Kirtz, who nailed a three with 5 seconds remaining, cutting it to three. But, Mayas would hold on to the ball as time expired.
Ravia owner Mary Martinez said, "we had this one, but just gave it away. We stopped doing what we did to get the lead, we began taking bad shots and not playing together in the end."
Kirtz paced the Ravia offense with 21 points, while also collecting four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Brock finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, four assist and three steals, while Monds contributed 13 points, five rebounds. Ingle finished with 12 points on four-of-four shooting from beyond the arc and also had four assists and two steals. Hamilton and Arnold each had 11 points, as Cox got 10 points. Underwood finished with seven, Chris Jackson four and Chinchilla two to round out the scoring for Ravia. The Rebels slipped to 2-3 on the season.
Lionel Garrett, head coach for Mayas-USA pointed out that his guys were leg-weary and took a while to get going. "We were lackluster and finally decided to get going. I was confident that we would make a run for it, even when we got down by 26. I was happy with the effort, especially with back-to-back games on the road." He went on to add, "everyone thought the teams in the Eastern Conference were not strong, but we squeezed out close wins both times and some people better open their eyes about the level of competition."
Dorsey, drained 25 fourth quarter points to lead all scorers with 39. He also dished out eight assists, and had two steals. Bobby Brown hustled his way to 26 points, eight rebounds (four offensive), and four steals. Jeff Daisley finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, while Deshawn Anderson (6'3''-G-81) had 13, Reo Logan 10, Hartley six, Edgar Soto five, BJ Puckett four, Brandon Heredia three and Derrick Stevens two. Mayas-USA Texas upped its record to 5-1 on the year and currently is alone atop the WBA standings.
Notes: Mayas-USA Texas has released BJ Puckett, effective May 18, for Conduct Detrimental to Team. Mayas has signed Edmund Saunders, who is scheduled to join the club this week in preparations for their next scheduled game. Saunders is a veteran of the WBA, as he helped the Rome Gladiators to consecutive Championships in 2005 and 2006. | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment