What a fitting end to a great 6th Annual Patrick Dennehy Memorial Tournament. The American Division championship game was truly a Rumble In The Bay at Santa Clara University as the Oakland Soldiers fell on Memorial Day to the talented LA Dream Team (LA) 69-57 in a war that sometimes resembled a rugby match as tempers occasionally flared during the rough play.
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| Photoby Dave Keefer |
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| Renardo Sidney |
Tournament MVP
Renardo Sidney powered the way for LA with a game-high 19 points despite spending a lot of time on the bench with foul trouble. It's surprising more players weren't saddled with fouls because this was a rough and intense game. But the refs let the banging go on and this seemed to favor LA's fullcourt pressure which caused numerous turnovers. Many times the play got rough enough to cause tempers to flare and five technical fouls were called, four of them on LA.
The game started with lots of intensity but featured some early finesse before the hard contact was the name of the game. Sidney had a nice putback to begin the scoring.
Drew Gordon answered with a thunderous dunk to tie the game for the Soldiers. Then Sidney hit a jumper from the baseline.
Collin Chiverton bettered that with a three-pointer for the Soldiers and they had their first lead at 5-4.
Sidney came back with his first dunk of the game and LA regained the lead 6-5. But Chiverton hit another three as the Soldiers reclaimed the advantage. They upped their lead to 10-6 and nobody present thought that this would be the high point of the game for them. But that's when the roof caved in as LA went on an 18-2 run to set the tone for virtually the rest of the way.
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| Photo by Dave Keefer |
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| Nick Murphy tries to score against Drew Gordon |
A drive and score from
Zack Payton gave LA the lead for good at 11-10 and the lead grew from there. But not before tempers began to go on display. The Soldiers'
Frank Otis, Jr. and LA's
Malcolm Kirkland got into a bit of an altercation and it was the first of more to come involving other players. After play resumed
Jalonni Diggs soon drilled a three to make it 15-11 for LA; a dribble drive by Sidney resulted in a resounding dunk to make it 20-12; and when the 18-2 run ended shortly thereafter it was 24-12.
Tim Harris revived the Soldiers with a prolific scoring burst. He completed a three-point play to stop the LA run and the Soldiers trailed 24-15. He soon nailed a three-ball to narrow the gap some more at 24-18. After LA edged out to a 27-19 lead, Harris came back with another bomb to cut the Soldiers' deficit to five at 27-22. But that was as close as the Soldiers would get the rest of the game.
A.J. Gaspora upped the lead to nine after a couple of free throws and a nifty kiss off the glass from a baseline J. The margin reached double digits at 36-26 when
Jamal Trice connected on a three (although the scoresheet gave credit to Gaspora so I could be wrong). The LA press was paying dividends in this stretch and a steal led to a putback bucket for
Justin Cobb to make it 38-26 and the Soldiers seemed to be reeling a bit. But, again, Harris led a comeback that culminated in his two free throws just before the half to make the score at the break,39-31, in favor of the LA Dream Team.
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| Photo by Dave Keefer |
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| Omari Evans |
LA took much of the suspense out of the game by going on a devastating 15-3 run to open the second half. The run was capped by a putback and scoring drive from
Nick Murphy as the scoreboard read 54-34. Gordon slowed LA's momentum with two free throws but they were answered by a bucket to keep the spread at twenty, 56-36.
The Soldiers gamely fought back. Harris got a putback as part of his team-high 17 points. With 8:20 left in the game,
Will Brew hit two of three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc while shooting. That made the score 56-42 and with LA contributing several technicals along the way, the Soldiers still had time to come back.
Omari Evans received a hard foul and when LA inappropriately objected a technical was called. Evans sank 3-4 FTs to make it 58-45 with 7:15 left.
Sidney got in the action again with a power move inside to muscle one in; the Soldiers answered but on the ensuing long inbounds pass by LA, Sidney went airborne for a monster one-hand slam and the score was 62-47 with 5:50 left. Gaspora nailed a three with 4:40 left to extend the lead, 65-49. But the Soldiers wouldn't go away. After another technical on LA led to two more successful free throws, the lead was down to ten, 65-55, with 2:32 to go. But LA had success with running the clock at this point. The Soldiers finally got a steal by
Chris Brew that led to a layin by Evans. That made the score 65-57 but only 1:10 remained on the clock. However, LA turned the ball over and the Soldiers got off an open three-pointer with 1:00 left. But the shot was off the mark and LA finished off the scoring with four free throws.
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| Photo by Dave Keefer |
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| Justin Cobb |
We'll have lots more coverage this week and next, including some extensive player evaluations for both the American and National divisions. We'll also have a championship game report for the National Division and lots of photos from all three days of the American Division play at Santa Clara University.
Scoring:LA Dream Team (69): Renardo Sidney 19, Zack Payton 10, Justin Cobb 6, Jalonni Diggs 5 (1 three), Nick Murphy 8, A.J. Gaspora 11 (2), Nigel Ajere (headed for Stoneridge Prep) 4, Jamal Trice 2, Malcolm Kirkland 4.
Oakland Soldiers (57): Will Brew 4, Chris Brew 7, Omari Evans 7, Frank Otis, Jr. 4, Collin Chiverton 8 (2 threes), Tim Harris 17 (2), Drew Gordon 9, Lucas Devenny 1.
The Patrick Dennehy Memorial Rumble In The Bay was presented by the Bay Area Ballers & Gerry Freitas and Nelson Washington. This outstanding tournament began five years ago with 21 teams and has grown to 80 teams this year, including players from all over California and several States.
