Basketball all-star game closes out season

It was a basketball game where the outcome was determined by "boxing out."

On Saturday, 14 players from the Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem Directorate of Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation Intramural Basketball League held an all-star game at the Fort Gillem Neal Fitness Center.

The two teams, the "Yellows" and "Reds," battled down to the final seconds through two 20-minute halves, with the Yellows withstanding a last-minute drive by the Reds to pull out a 60-57 victory.

The Reds took the early lead, when Master Sgt. Kenith Fields, senior human resource NCO, U.S. Army Reserve Command G-1, scored a two-point bucket less than a minute into the game.

Future shots came a little harder for the Reds as Yellows' defense pressed hard, leading to several turnovers.

At one point, the Yellows managed to stretch their lead to 16-8. By effectively boxing out the Reds from the lane, the Yellows were able to grab more rebounds and turned missed shots into points.

Eventually, the Reds surged in the final four minutes of the first half, at one point closing the score gap by two points, resulting in a score of 26-24.

However, the final points of the half were put up by the Yellows, who ended the half on top, 30-24.

The Reds'coach, Nikesha Jackson, production controller at a Fort Gillem equipment concentration site, used the five-minute halftime to change her team's strategy.

"We're changing our defense from a 2-3 (two men out front, three below the basket) zone, to a 2-1- 2, (tw men out front, two on the baseline and one in the middle)" she said.

"We discussed a few things on how to fill the lane and reduce the amount of passing." Yellows' coach Spc. Chris Johnson, a truck driver with Company A, 348th Brigade Support Battalion, Georgia National Guard, said he wasn't going to change his team's play style, which consisted of a fast paced, run the gun offense, and a mix of 2-3 zone and man-to-man defense.

As in the first half, the second period began with a Reds basket, scored by Sgt. Lamonte Germany, property book office NCOIC, 3rd Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.

Yellows player Calvin Artis Jr., a military dependant, answered with two of his own, setting off a string of four unanswered baskets. A free throw by the Reds finally ended the team's drought, bringing the score to 38-27. Jackson's screams of "Box them out!" finally seemed to have an effect toward the end of the game, as her team began to collect more rebounds and convert them into points.

Fans rose to their feet when Marques Jones, a personal trainer, scored a three-point shot with 46 seconds left to bring the Reds to within six. A quick turnover and another three-pointer brought the game to 60-57.

The magic didn't last, however, despite the Reds' aggressive defense causing another last minute turnover.

With seconds winding down, retired Sgt. 1st Class Darrell Cloud took a final three, but was unable to land the shot and force overtime.

"It was a great game, especially with the limited number of players," said head referee Donnie Bryant, an Atlanta social worker.

"I thought they'd be tired but they weren't," he said, adding everyone played hard. In the end, Bryant, fellow referee Tommy Gibson, Johnson and Jackson all thought the best player was Artis, who was honored with the game's most valuable player award. Artis also earned a trophy for winning the three-point competition before the game.

"He scored a few baskets, helped set his teammates up and played solid defense," Bryant said of Artis.

The game brought to a close the 14-team league, which was won by the Atlanta Vets, who beat the East Point team in the finals March 31.