6/26/2011: PTL Notebook – Intentional foul sparks late rally
Posted on 26. Jun, 2011 by admin in Iowa Basketball
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa — For the first 33-and-a-half minutes, things looked good for Monica’s/L.L. Pelling Company on Sunday afternoon at the North Liberty Community Center. Despite dealing with a three-headed monster consisting of Matt Gatens, Aaron White and Melsahn Basabe, it was ahead of Falbo Bros Pizza/Culver’s of Coralville, 97-85. Not only that, but Monica’s/Pelling looked commanding in being ahead by a dozen points.
Then a moment White later described as “a big turning point” occurred. As Gatens drove to the bucket, he was fouled hard by former Iowa player Duez Henderson, who was called for an intentional foul on the play.
Gatens knocked down a pair of free throws, and it ultimately triggered a 27-8 run which propelled Falbo/Culver’s to a stunning 112-105 win. The Iowa City native finished with 28 points, while Basabe led the way with 29 points and White had 27 points in the win.
He didn’t express any hard feelings towards Henderson after the game, but Gatens agreed with White’s premise about the call having an impact.
“Duez is a good guy and wouldn’t mean to do anything bad, but I think maybe it did get our guys going a little bit,” Gatens said. “We rallied around each other and everybody stepped up and played hard.”
In defeat, Monica’s/Pelling received another strong outing from sophomore guard Devyn Marble, who had a game-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting. However, he only managed to shoot 8-of-15 from the free-throw line. Senior forward Devon Archie had two points and three rebounds.
While he didn’t think the intentional foul call had a dramatic effect on Sunday, Marble did say moments like that in a regular-season game could reinvigorate a team, and he was still somewhat shellshocked by Monica’s/Pelling’s late-game collapse.
“We don’t really know what happened,” Marble said. “I think we had some communication problems with some defenses we were in. Some of us were in zone, some of us were in man, and it was hurting us. They were getting some easy shots.”
Falbo/Culver’s now sits alone in second place at 2-1, while Monica’s/Pelling finds itself in a four-way tie for third place at 1-2 after losing two straight contests.
Coach’s Corner/Two Rivers Bank & Trust 102, McCurry’s/Mike Gatens Real Estate 92
Corner/Rivers remained the league’s lone unbeaten Sunday afternoon by defeating McCurry’s/Gatens, 102-92. In doing so, it received a stellar performance from junior Anthony Hubbard.
The 6-5 wing player came away one assist short of a triple-double on Sunday, finishing with 26 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists in the win. Corner/Rivers sits alone in first place at 3-0, while McCurry’s/Gatens fell into a 4-way tie for third place at 1-2.
In defeat, McCurry’s/Gatens was led by junior forward Eric May, who had a game-high 29 points. Meanwhile, freshman guard Josh Oglesby had his best performance through three games this summer, coming away with 14 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
Jill Armstrong of Lepic-Kroeger Realtors 103, Iowa City Ready Mix/Vinton Merchants 78
After dropping its first two games of the summer, Jill Armstrong finally pulled through with its first victory, an emphatic 103-78 win over Ready Mix/Merchants, in the later game Sunday afternoon. As a result, both teams now sit at 1-2.
Jill Armstrong was led in scoring by Eric Washpun, who had 31 points, but one player who made people on hand take notice was sophomore forward Zach McCabe. The Sioux City native finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
“In the first half, I wasn’t really feeling it, so I just tried to let the game come to me,” McCabe said. “In the first part, I didn’t have many opportunities to shoot, so I was trying to do anything possible to get the ball. Rebound, do anything, just to help our team win.”
Ready Mix/Merchants received a decent game from senior guard and PTL top pick Bryce Cartwright, who had 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting and eight assists. Freshman forward Gabe Olaseni finished with three points and five rebounds.
The Prime Time League resumes from the North Liberty Community Center on June 28, with two games taking place at 6 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m.
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