COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: Week 4 Recap | 8:22PM "What Does That Even Mean?"

“People Want To Follow Positive Leaders…Unless A Teammate Is Really Out Of Line Stay Positive.” – Unknown

Good morning, afternoon or evening to all my local, national and international Ultimate Hoops fans. This past Thursday was another good night for basketball in the Pikes Peak region, but before I get into that I want to ask a quick question. Is it really that possible for one person to change the outcome of a game that you’re playing in before the ball even goes up for the jump ball? Now if you answered yes to that question the title of this article will make perfect since. With that being said It’s time for me to do what I do when I do what I do oh so well…It’s The Recap Baby!!!

(3-0) Hand Down Man Down vs. (2-1) Meet The Browns
I’m pretty sure Meet The Brown’s (Team Wes at the time) had this game circled on their calendar after getting it handed to them three weeks ago. While they were able to get some big time players to fill some big shoes on the roster none were bigger than the signing that took place earlier in the week with finalizing the contract of Anthony Byrd. Hand Down Man Down came into the game undefeated and surely had no reason to think anything would be different once the buzzer sounded at the end of this one. But what happens when you have a person that can see into the future…WHAT!? At 8:22pm on Wednesday evening I was told exactly what was going to happen and believe it or not it actually happened to a “T”.

From the tip both teams started off a little slow having to get used to playing with the Spalding TF1000. Before continuing let’s give a moment of silence to the EVO….tear…sniffle….deep breath….long exhale and now let’s continue with our regularly scheduled programming. Once acclimated Marco Clark (82%fg, 4rebs & 1blk) did what he does best and that’s dominating in effortlessly fashion scoring 12 of his 20 points in the first half. Former GM of the team Wes McKenzie (55%fg, 10rebs & 8asst) looked extra comfortable in his return dropping 16 of his game high 27 points in the first half while also setting the tone on the defense finishing with 4 steals. I can’t say I wasn’t shocked, but I was totally shocked by the shooting performance of Hand Down Man Down given the mismatches they had. While the perimeter shooting struggled Tim Kohere (67%fg, 2asst & 2blks) would keep them as close as possible scoring 12 of his 20 points and grabbing 6 of his 9 rebounds in the first half to keep things somewhat respectful as they went into the half down by 20.
The second half would start a little better for Hand Down Man Down, but in a sense the mental damage of Anthony Byrd playing (6-6fg, 4-4ft, 11rebs & 3asst) who didn’t even start and only played 12 minutes in the first half had already been done. Seth Thompson (33%fg, 8 rebs & 5asst) would do his best to carry the load scoring 16 of his team high 22 points in the second half, but that is a tough task when you have two of your 20+ppg players (Brian Smith & Michael Harper) combining 6-30 from the field for 16 points. Hand Down Man Down did put up 42 second half points behind a solid performance from Garet Bohuslavsky (50%fg, 50%3p & 1stl) who shot well going 4-8 from the field scoring 12 points and dropping 4 assist. Now a 42 point second half performance would normally be enough to complete a comeback against most teams, but when you have a guy like Ranell Green from Meet The Brown’s running point forward dropping a quiet 20 points on your head, snatching down 12 rebounds and dropping dimes (9) like when cleaning out your center console makes it tough for any team playing from behind to win. Would this game have turned out differently if 8:22pm on Wednesday never happened?
(3-1)Hand Down Man Down 74 – (3-1) Meet The Browns 102 Box Score


(1-2) Dem Boyz vs. (0-3) Free Agent
Like I said in the preview these two teams are evenly matched up depending on who actually shows up to play (physically and mentally). Honestly this just might have been the last time we see Dem Boyz play at a high level losing a key and huge part of them being a threat with the upcoming departure of Chance Matlock on Monday as he gears up for college. The Free Agents on the other hand have a long road ahead of them and they had the chance to start that climb out of the cellar if they were ready to buy into to team ball and DEFENSE!

This matchup started out in blowout form with Dem Boyz capitalizing on a couple of turnovers early on jumping out to a seven to nothing lead. At the head of this early push was Zach Hawkings (55%fg, 58%3p, 4rebs & 5stls) who was in that zone having no problems filling up the hoop with 17 of his game high 29 points all the while dropping 4 of his 7 game high assist. Grant Morin (75%fg, 75%3p, 4asst & 2stls) joined in on the party scoring 13 of his 21 to keep the lead double digits throughout the first half not to mention snatching down any missed shot within arm’s reach. It took a minute for the Free Agents to finally get on the board, but once the momentum started to swing just a little. This season hasn’t been a high scoring season for Jasmin Williams (1-3fg & 4pts), but settling into the role as facilitator has worked out for the team when things are clicking finding his teammates for a game high 7 assist. On the end of a few of these were DaMarcus Forney (69%fg, 2rebs, 2asst & 1stl) who had no problem slicing to the cup with almost no contest from the defense who wound up finishing the game with 19 even though his team would go into halftime down by 18 points.

The second half would start off well for the Free Agents as they cut their deficit to 12 within the first three minutes behind some good play from Nikita Smullen (32%fg, 75%ft & 9rebs) who was able to get to the line where he was able to score 9 of his team high 21 points. Brett Harris (4pts, 40%fg & 2rebs) set the tone on defense with his hustle creating a couple of turnovers resulting in some much needed points in his first appearance of the season after being signed two weeks ago. The Free Agent’s had already dug a too big of a deficit for the late arrival of the team’s third leading scorer Joel Garbe (12.3ppg, 49%fg, 46%3p & 3.5rebs) to even help the cause as he didn’t get a chance to get things going. Speaking of Chance…Chance Matlock (64%fg, 3rebs, 3asst & 1blk) from Dem Boyz put on quite the show with a couple of high flying dunks and acrobatical layups on his way to his season high 24 points in his last game of the season enroute to his team’s 37 point victory.
(2-2) Dem Boyz 96 – (0-4) Free Agents 59 Box Score