Thursday, February 9, was a busy yet fun day in Pippa Passes. Students had a nice break from class at 1 pm when the Championship Intramurals Basketball Team (the Young Pups) took on a Faculty/Staff team (the Old Heads) in the Perry Campus Center on Coach J Court. The Old Heads controlled the game from start to end and taught the Young Pups a lesson: respect your elders. The final score was Old Heads, a whopping 74 points over the Young Pups’ measly 54. The game featured 128 points, 16 assists, 51 rebounds, and 13 steals, as well as some controversial no-calls. No students were harmed during the basketball masterclass, but one staff member left the contest with an injury.
Shortly into the contest, the Young Pups learned why you can’t teach an old dog new tricks: it’s because the old dog already knew the trick! At least, that’s what it looked like to anyone watching the game. The Old Heads had undoubtedly been there, done that, and knew how to dominate the youngsters and sneak in a few cheap plays.
Academic Dean and Old Heads player Charles Marshall caught the refs with their heads turned seconds before tipoff and knocked the ball into the air himself. It happened so fast and with such expertise that the referee clearly thought he had sent the ball up himself. Marshall sent the ball to the Old Heads, and the game started a few seconds early. The Old Heads were so quick to score that the scorekeeper almost lost count of points and may have given the team a few points too many (6 to be exact…), and the Young Pups not as many as they scored (only 4 points shy of their real total). The incorrect scoring would not have mattered, however, as the Old Heads still would have bested their opponents by 10 points.
The remainder of the first half featured a flurry of scoring and strong defensive plays by the Old Heads while the Young Pups tried to keep within striking distance. Noah Young primarily distributed the ball for the Old Heads in the first half but led the team with 10 points, a steal, and an assist. Ryne Loggins was another notable first-half player. He put up 8 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal. The Old Heads were hitting from anywhere on the court, with Brandon Arnold and Scott Cornett shooting lights-out from beyond the 3-point line and hitting all 3 shots attempted. The Young Pups couldn’t make it in the paint, so they tried 3-point attempt after 3-point attempt from deep and made only 6 3’s out of several attempts in the first half.
The closer the half came to concluding, the larger the point differential became, and the Young Pups tried to put a run together to end the half but were stopped on their last two drives down the court. On the second to last drive, the Old Heads came up with their 5th steal of the half, and Charles and Taylor Marshall hit the Young Pups with a father-son play as Taylor Marshall hit his dad in stride with a beautiful pass and Charles Marshall swished it through for two. The Young Pups took the ball down the court quickly and set up another three-point attempt that Nathan Hall blocked from the bench! Not realizing Hall had subbed out of the game, the refs let the play go, and the half ended with the Old Heads on top 44-29 (though it should have been 38-27).
The second half featured much of the same, with John “Never Miss” Mills and Ryne Loggins leading the Old Heads with 11 points apiece. Loggins led the way to the Old Heads’ victory with a total of 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Not far behind him was John Mills with 11 points and Noah Young with 10 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound, and 3 steals. If you thought the Young Pups would complete a comeback in the second half, you’d be disappointed. The Young Pups must have stayed in the locker room after halftime because they couldn’t seem to get anything going offensively or defensively. On the offensive side of the ball, Ryan Cozart led the Young Pups with a quiet 19 points, and Omarion Thomas got 11 rebounds. Additionally, Eli Worrix put up 12 points, and Jacob Frazier came off the bench for 10 more. The kennel club gave up 10 steals and countless turnovers that they just couldn’t come back from, and they lacked the depth to compete with the much more rounded Old Heads team.
After a controversial call, Young Pups Coach Carson Hanson stormed onto the court and was sent to the doghouse- a technical was called, and Noah Young put in 1 of 2 foul shots to add to the climbing score. The Young Pups were defeated long before the final buzzer by an Old Heads team that never trailed. ALC Marketing’s Ty Reagan got up with Old Heads’ Coach Glenn Pemberton after the game. Coach Pemberton denies any controversial play-and-score discrepancies during the matchup and looks forward to defeating the student Intramurals Basketball Champions again next year.
Notable plays include back-to-back-to-back 3s by Never Miss Mills, two should-have-been-flops by Charles Marshall that resulted in turnovers for the other team, an in-your-face 3 by Scott Cornett, and the previously mentioned ineligible block by Nathan Hall. Old Heads player Jessie Wilks left the game early with a dislocated shoulder after attempting a defensive move to swat away the ball and create a turnover.
Some superlatives:
- Most Proficient: Ryne Loggins
- Perfect: John Mills
- Best-off-the-Bench: Nathan Hall
- Best Team-Player: Noah Young
- Sir Flops-a-lot: Charles Marshall
Honorable Mentions:
- Injury Bugged: Jessie Wilks
- Most Intimidating: Scott Cornett and Josh Hall
