Hurricanes Overwhelm Team One for First Victory, 43-24

 

Pregame Oath

Saturday, February 5^th, 2011 - The Hurricanes entered the game shy one Coach (Coach Quentin) and two players (Chandler and Daniel).



Chris - working his way out of a trap

Hurricane center Carlos took the reigns in the first quarter, attacking the paint and rattling off five points. Accompanied by Allen, Patrick, Conrad and Michael, the Hurricanes appeared as if they would steamroll Team One, rounding off the quarter with a 10-0 lead.

Nick pulling up for a 2-pointer (Chris in the background)
(Photo courtesy of Dan & Vicki
Gonzales)

Basketball is a game of hot and cold streaks, however, and in the second quarter Team One brandished a secret weapon of its own in the form of number 8; a stocky center-forward with a quick first step to the hoop. Although Patrick put forth an honorable defensive effort, number eight was able to sink 9 points in the second quarter. While the Hurricanes’ shooting went cold (2 for 13 for the quarter), Team One’s offense caught fire, pulling within one point, 14-13. Were it not for a key rebound by Chris, and a couple of hard-earned buckets by Patrick and Nick, the Hurricanes would have faired much worse at the half-way point. 


 

During half-time, the question rising question to be answered was: “Who on the Hurricanes could stop number 8?”

Jordan positioning for the rebound



After a quick lessons-learned pep talk by Coach Chris, the Hurricanes returned to the floor with an increased sense of intensity.  In game three, Allen (Hurricanes point guard) played a relatively cautious game on offense, attempting only two shots the whole game…but that was the Allen of old.  In the third quarter of game four, Allen put on a clinic; dribbling, dancing, bobbing, weaving, and firing up 8 unanswered points in a row.  He would go on to finish the game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists.



Conrad - shutting down #5
(Photo courtesy of Dan & Vicki
Gonzales)



Complemented by four points from Conrad, two points from Michael, a rebound and steal from Jordan, the Hurricanes presented Coach Chris with a 28-16 lead after three quarters.

Recalling the second quarter comeback by Team One, the Hurricanes took nothing for granted going into the fourth quarter, and retook the floor with the same level of intensity the displayed in the third quarter.



  

Team One came out swinging and aiming to make a statement early on.  Dreaded number #8 split the defense to score two quick points, and followed up on subsequent possessions with clean passes to his power forward (#5) who was open under the basket for two easy layups. Number 8 also swatted an attempted layup by Conrad on the opposite end of the court.  It appeared for moment that Team 1 was on its way to another comeback…but appearances can sometimes be deceiving.

Carlos with a teardrop jumper



Patrick setting up the offense
(Photo courtesy of Dan & Vicki
Gonzales)



Perhaps slightly uncomfortable with Allen’s third quarter offensive show, Team One turned their focus toward cranking up the defensive heat on Allen in the fourth quarter.  With the poise of a professional, Allen took advantage of that opportunity to deliver three assists in a row to Conrad, who went on a 12 point scoring spree to finish the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds.  Perhaps Conrad’s most worthy achievement of the game was found on the defensive end of the floor, where he held #8 to only 4 points in the fourth quarter, and repaid the Team One star with a blocked shot of his own, thereby proving that “the Hurricanes can play that too!”

Allen - driving for 2 of his 10 points
(Photo courtesy of Dan & Vicki
Gonzales)

Meanwhile, Carlos dropped in two points, and Patrick shut down #5 for the remainder of the quarter, while tossing in a free throw himself. 

When the referee’s whistle blew, the score read Hurricanes 43, Team One 24.

For the game, the Hurricanes shot 36% from the floor (a 6% improvement over their previous average), and turned the ball over only 9 times (14 times less than their previous average).  Their defense, passing game and communication on the floor were visibly much improved.

The Hurricanes face Team 6 on Saturday, February 12^th, at 3:00PM.