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Week 5 Recap (Javion's Edition)

Writer's picture: Johnny BeseckerJohnny Besecker

Just like that we are already 2 weeks away from the end of the regular season! It’s Father’s Day gameday and tons of teams made sure they knew who their father was; that being the opposing team! Despite me missing arguably the best week of them all which is tough to judge considering how stacked week 4’s card was, our own Lancaster County BBAL hoopers did not disappoint! Let’s get into how Father’s Day BBAL weekend played out!



To kick off Father’s Day weekend, the 8 Balls and Gremlins squared off! Early on, this game seemed like a lopsided affair. 8 Balls, being full strength, were scoring with ease. As the Gremlins struggled and were down 0-12 with 5 minutes gone in the first. I mean this game won’t really need much explanation. The Gremlins were down double-digits mainly at will the entire game. With their lack of defense, it opened the record books for Jason Kuntzelman, who apparently wasn’t supposed to play this week due to a last minute 2nd technical foul in Week 4 and Julian Collazo who has dominated nearly every time he’s stepped on the court. In our Week 5 “Sport Court Report'' Gremlins guard, Casey Corvino discussed their struggles this year. Their dominant season last year crept into their conversation in comparison and he couldn’t have said it better. 8 Ball's dynamic duo dominated with Jason Kuntzelman scoring 47 pts, although he shot 30 attempts, he made it count with 33 of his points coming from the three totaling out with 11-23 from three(48%) and 17-30 from the field(57%). His partner in crime, Julian Collazo ended with also 47 pts combining them for 94 points which is a first in BBAL history! He shot 20-26(77%) from the field and as most would agree, he gets it from cherry picking! He only shot 50% from three though he only attempted two but filled the stat sheet up otherwise with 11 rebounds.

The Gremlins despite their rough showing had a couple of guys who showed heart and potential with better supporting cast. Jeff Espinal delivered a solid 27 pts shooting 11-23(43%) from the field while stroking three 3’s(no diddy) to finish 3-7(43%) from beyond the arc. He also snagged 10 boards along with nearly fouling out. Nevin Roman delivered as well with a solid 19 pts shooting 7-17(41%) from the field however a poor three-point performance shooting 5-14(36%). These two weren’t even close to enough as Week 5’s party started with a blowout win by the 8 Balls, 124-72.



Game 2 however, certainly kept fans on the edge of their seats with the WoodPeckers and Lanc Show duking it out! Despite the back and forth display from both teams, WoodPecks Danny Bomberger with his first game back since Week 1 made his presence felt in the first.  The Lanc Show stayed in it even throughout their minor dry spell later in the first. The first half seemed very interior heavy for both teams as they were both getting to the charity stripe effectively. The second half was an occurring theme between the two both of these teams but noticeably Ajani, Nassir, and some other guys were gonna have to step up to propel them to victory. The Lanc Show’s leading contributors were certainly not what they wanted with Ajani and Nas struggling but Jaxon Weyforth had a solid outing with 16 pts shooting 6-10(60%) from the field and 4-8(50%) from three. With him being their leading scorer with only 16 pts, it’s just not what we are used to seeing from the Lanc Show. Luke Pierson played like his usual self with 15 pts and 7-9(78) from the field but more notably 9 rebounds which is his bread and butter. For more of their notable contribution, Jack Engle started catching fire late being nearly the sole reason why the game ended the way it did with 15 pts shooting 6-12(50%) from the field. The Peckers started the second half, did not let up and came out hot! A similar theme occurred for the Peckers as with Danny Bomberger back, Devin didn’t have to carry such a load offensively. Their big man, Elijah Eberly led the team with 21 pts while shooting 9-12(75%) as well as two blocks and nearly a double-double with 9 rebounds. Danny Bomberger, despite missing the past 4 weeks, showed familiar sights of himself scoring 16 pts shooting 7-17(41%). And as for Devin Atkinson, whose name has been mentioned frequently, prioritized his role as a pass-first guard with 6 dimes. This entire second half was shared by scoring runs and droughts from both teams. It seemed as though with 4 minutes to go and the Lanc Show down by 11, the Peckers would close the door but, as Ajani stated in our Week 5 “Sport Court Report” he said “Basketball is a game of runs.” He and his team stayed true to this statement as in a blink of an eye the Lanc Show were now down just 68-69 with 50 seconds remaining. With this game coming down to the wire, it came down to a final shot from the Lanc Show with three seconds left… Jack Engle shot a tough contested mid-range that rattled in and out that led to the Lanc Show falling, 73-74. Apparently, Devin Atkinson heard the Lanc Show’s last second play call to end the game despite them still getting a good look but hey… I guess we’ll never know!



Game 3 was between the CherryPickers and Dragons. The first half was pretty evenly matched as it was a defensive dogfight. Tyler Crespo in his Pickers debut was on pace for a great game but really started to breakout in the second half. The Dragons go-to guys just struggled. Elijah Terry really couldn’t buy a bucket with 14 pts on 5-15(33%) shooting from the field and a 4-11(36%) from three being not much better. Ricky Cruz played by far the poorest offensively 1-12(8%) from the field and 1-7(14%) from three. Their leading guys struggled this week and declining defense in the second half compared to the first half surely didn’t help their confidence and it's certainly a night they’ll wanna put behind them. The CherryPickers in the second half came out more aggressive and highlighted Tyler Crespo. The 2nd half was all CherryPickers and the Dragons struggles to buy a bucket helped them close the door. Realistically, Tyler Crespo displayed a one-man show scoring 35pts on 12-20(60%) from the field and 3-9(33%) from three. He also continued his usual interior attack with knocking down 8 free throws in 9 attempts(89%). With that being said, this game ended in a CherryPickers blowout, 81-51 being our 2nd blowout in three games!






Tropics and Huskies in game 4 was anticipated to be a good one considering John-John Gillespie’s Tropics debut in the Tyler Crespo exchange. Early on, this game was fairly close despite a couple of Husky runs. Whenever they went on a run, it seemed the Tropics had answers to keep them around. The first half ended with a 44-37 Huskies lead but the Tropics showed more than enough to have hopes to climb back. The Huskies started the second half with a 13-0 run in under 3 minutes!  After this, the Tropics really couldn’t afford a bucket or momentum. It was all Huskies led by David Kamwanga scoring 23 pts on 8-20(40%) shooting, 11 rebounds, and two blocks. His other supporting cast was Isaiah Valentine scoring 22 pts on 9-14(64%) shooting. Timmy Edwards with 18 pts on 8-13(62%) shooting and Elijah Washington with 15pts on 7-11(64%) shooting. It was really a scoring fiasco for the Huskies main crew! The Tropics scoring wasn’t their issue either as John-John in his debut scored 25pts on 9-20(45%) shooting and 5-12(42%) from three despite majority misses coming when needed in the 2nd half. Brad Atkinson finally woke up this season scoring 20pts on 8-24(33%) shooting and 4-15(27%) from three. Despite his inefficiency and shot attempts, scoring as much as he did is what they needed or else, this game would've been a lot uglier. Aaron Constein as well certainly wasn’t the reason for their loss as he scored 15 pts shooting 6-13(46%) from the field and 10 rebounds finishing out with a double-double. Despite all of this and even the Tropics solid performance at least in the first half, they fell to the Huskies, 71-87. This is probably the best we’ve seen the Tropics all year being in their new era and maybe this will bring more confidence in their locker room and they can have more consistent shooting nights.




Our prime-time between the Titans and Bullies. The Battle of the Besecker Brothers!  The Titans without Ant-Man and rookie sensation Chase Yarbrough had a tough task on their hands against a fully healthy nicknamed “MJM Bullies” squad. The lights shined brightest on Johnny Besecker with both of his all-star caliber starters being out. We had the opportunity to see a bit of starter Johnny as he’s chosen to come off the bench with the amount of talent on his roster. On paper, the Titans seemed unmatched but if you know anything about the Titans, they don’t stop fighting. Early on, the Bullies were in command led by Tyrell Melendez who was in his Bullies debut after being traded for quite literally a bag of chips… This team's talent is seen as the villain of the league especially after being compared to the 17-18’ Kevin Durant Warriors. Early on and in the first Johnny indeed did come out to play by far being their leading scorer. Rob Footman hit some key shots too but, the amount of talent on the Bullies squad kept them around at will. The Titans were gonna have to get others involved in the 2nd half because despite playing as solid as they did in the first half, they found themselves down 36-47 entering the 2nd half. Opening up the 2nd half the Bullies just didn’t let up. Elite ball movement turned into open threes and interior buckets that completely carried momentum. They were up 59-43 with just 5 minutes gone in the first and the crowd wasn’t pleased.  Liam Besecker in a timeout seemingly called out the fans for their applause for Titans buckets and quietness for Bully buckets. This was the start of people believing the Bullies were the “villains'' of the BBAL. After this, coming out of the timeout, it was all Bullies as scoring kept coming and Titans offense slowed down. The Bullies dominance served again in a collective effort courtesy of Kobe Gantz who continues to climb the MVP ladder scoring 20pts on 8-12(67%) shooting, Tyrell Melendez scoring 14pts on 5-10(50%) shooting and many more. Despite former MVP Marquel Wansley returning, he didn’t serve much impact due to coming off the bench playing his injury conservatively and let’s be honest, he didn’t have much at all. The Titans' production came from Johnny Besecker mainly in the first half scoring 27 pts on 9-19(47%) shooting and 4-12(33%) from three. His right hand man this week and last year, Rob Footman scored 16 pts on 5-11(45%) shooting and 4-7(57%) from three. Makai Ortiz-Gray played solid but not up to his potential and what we’ve seen in years past. If he can get back to that level, this team at full strength won’t be easy to beat. These performances for the Titans just weren’t enough as the Bullies stood tall over the Titans in a 89-71 victory with this now being the Titans second consecutive loss.



Week 5 is a wrap and every week seems to be better and better! You should all be excited for Week 6 approaching us as I’m sure it won’t disappoint! See you all on Sunday for Week 6 of the BBAL!!!



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