By John Harden/sports editor
South began its 5-on-5 spring basketball league tournament Thursday, and the Celtics, Head Hunters and Poppers debuted their seasons with victories.
The first game began with Free Agents #2 squaring off against the Fort Worth Celtics.
The Celtics had a hard time containing the Agents, but their seven-man roster presented a slight advantage over the Agents’ five-man team.
With only five players, the Agents couldn’t substitute during the game and fatigue played against them.
The Agents held off the Celtics during the first half with a score of 17-14. In the second half, they fought to protect the lead, but as fatigue set in, that lead began to slip.
Agents’ Anthony Larter scored 16 points and gathered nine rebounds, but that wasn’t enough to ward off the Celtics.
Celtics’ Forest Robinson scored six of his 10 points in the second half, giving his team the lead.
Terry Davis and Etheos Henderson helped the Celtics to a 35-31 win, each scoring six points.
The Head Hunters and Free Agents #1 met in the second game of the afternoon, and The Hunters lived up to their name.
Zamon Fortbert hit the first five points of the game for the Agents and looked to control the game early, but the Hunters quickly constrained the Agents and scored the next 20 points.
The Hunters took a commanding lead early and ended the half with a score of 54-9.
In the second half, the Hunters picked up where they left off, and Agents #1 could not catch up.
The Hunters easily cruised to their first victory, 85-17.
Adam Oriti of the Hunters hit eight of his 10 3-point attempts and finished the game with 31 points.
“He [Oriti] was good out there,” said Tasha McCullin, who was watching the game from the stands. “He was hitting them 3-pointers like [Steve] Nash.”
Hunters’ Nick Vance and Jaquan Smith also contributed to their team’s win, scoring 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Poppers and Know Names made their debuts in the third and final game of the day.
Poppers and Know Names had several lead changes throughout the first half, and each team relied only on one-on-one isolations to score.
The Poppers acquired a 32-27 lead at the half and maintained it for the rest of the game, winning 63-52.
The Poppers’ Antonio Washington and Jammal Brooks scored 26 and 14 points, respectively. Dewayne Holmes also contributed by gathering nine rebounds and scoring eight points.
Only four of eight Know Names players scored. Tory Woods scored 21 points, Aquantis Dennis had 18 points, Drew Miner scored eight points and Robert Richards ended with five.
“[Know Names] need to learn to pass the ball,” said intramural director Michael Daniels. “All they want to do is to show off and play one-on-one, but they won’t win like that.”
The next round of the tournament begins at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the South Campus gym.
