Players focus on teamwork in South tournament

By Colt Langley/sports editor

South Campus basketball players showed hustle and speed in their intramural games March 2.

Brandon Davis of Team 4 goes after a shot by the Starter Loggs in South Campus intramural basketball play March 2. The Starter Loggs won the game, 50-46.John Jones/The Collegian
Brandon Davis of Team 4 goes after a shot by the Starter Loggs in South Campus intramural basketball play March 2. The Starter Loggs won the game, 50-46.John Jones/The Collegian

In the first game, the Starter Loggs defeated Team 4, 50-46.

Throughout the game, the Starter Loggs held the lead. At halftime, they were up, 24-17.

Dra’ Sean Gray of the Starter Loggs said one advantage his team had was height.

“We were just playing hard,” he said. “We have height, which helps us to see around the court for people that are wide open.”

Kendrick Speed of Team 4 said, overall, his team had a good game.

“We had to fight, and we had some struggle,” Speed said. “Not to make excuses, but our whole team was not here. By the second half, we were pretty winded.”

One thing that the Starter Loggs did well was incorporate all their team members.

Jarrett Parish of the Starter Loggs said teamwork is what sets his group apart from the others.

“It’s teamwork. We play together and don’t argue. We communicate, and we acknowledge when another player is better than another,” Parish said.

In the second game, Team 3 defeated Team 7, 68-40. Team 3’s high-scoring captain Lee Calton said his team “played hard once again,” but would not boast of his team’s ability.

“I don’t want to say too much. I’d rather just show it on the court,” Calton said.

Sydney Robinson, also of Team 3, said he’d like to see his team change up some of its playing in the next game.

“I expect us to come out and play hard and get the W,” he said. “Today, we played good defense, but we need to work on rotating our defense as well as offense, getting everybody more involved.”

After the game, Jarrett White of Team 7 said he was worn out.

“I’m tired because they were pressing me the whole game. They had two or three people on me during the first half,” White said.

“I wish we would have made more shots and stopped missing. The other team had more people and more time to rest.”

White’s teammate Marko Simatovic said he didn’t expect his team to lose.

“Basketball is like a bowl of cherries. You never know what you’re going to get,” he said. “You might win or you might lose. That all depends on you. For Thursday, I want to see us come back, rebound, shoot and play well as a unit.”

In the last game, Team 6 beat Team 2, 32-29.

In the closest of all the games, both teams fought it out point by point.

Charles Castleberry of Team 6 said his team pulled together for the win.

“It was an ugly game, but we still came out on top by hustle and hard work,” Castleberry said.

Charles Simmons of Team 2 said his group would be ready for the South playoffs.

“We need to get our team together. We’re not looking quite right yet,” he said. “I had two assists, but we’ll be ready before playoffs.”

South Campus intramural director Michael Daniels said right now it looks like Team 3 is the team to beat.

“Overall, it went pretty good. I think Team 3 perhaps has the strongest team in the tournament,” he said. “But they’re going to have to watch out for the teams they have already played and beaten. They shouldn’t get too relaxed because those opposing teams probably have some revenge.”

Daniels also said he wants to see the teams come together more.

“I’d like to see the teams play more team ball and stop this one-on-one play,” Daniels said.

“I want to see them more organized and play with more team togetherness.”