Game 134: Macomb vs. Williamsville (Boy's Basketball)

Riverton's Hawk Center

Game 134
Macomb vs. Williamsville (Boy's Basketball)
Riverton Shootout
(2/12/11)

Before the last game tipped off, I made a fast jaunt down to the hospitality room.  I chowed down on a few pieces of delicious mushroom pizza from Gallina's in Riverton.  As I sat down at a table in the room, a plate of home made brownies caught my eye.  I've been (trying) eating healthier in the last week, so I was able to abstain from the sweets. 

In fact, now that I think about it, I've only made one trip to a fast food joint in the last week.  The funny thing is, by July I will say I haven't ate fast food in three months.  Nature of the beats.  First off, with my schedule it's tough to plan meals ahead.  Secondly, in the summer I conduct a much healthier lifestyle with working out and fast food disgusts me.  Unfortunately, for four months of the year, my vocabulary is filled with terms like; double cheeseburger, steakburger, sliders, and cheesy gordita.

After my quick eats in the hospitality room, I went and chatted with the Macomb media contingent.  K100 play-by-play man Kipp Jones and Shelby Burget talked about the previous night's game at Monmouth-Roseville.  It was a tough loss for the Bombers, falling 66-43.  It was certainly a tough atmosphere for the visitors, as fans at the door were being turned away during the sophomore game!  A line began around 4:00 (7:30 varsity game).

Macomb was without the services of Zach Grover, serving a one-game suspension after an ejection from Friday night's game at Monmouth-Roseville.  The Bombers got down early, trailing 7-0, however they burst back and took a 16-14 lead after the first quarter.

Williamsville evened things up in the 2nd quarter, and the game was tied, 23-23 at halftime.  Tyler Thorman had 10 first half points for the Bombers.  Williamsville had eight players score in the first half, led by Brad Wagner's 7 points.

A strange occurrence happened in the 3rd quarter.  After a Josh Gentile steal and layup, the buzzer sounded at the scorer's table.  I scanned the floor, and there were no injuries, neither coach called a timeout, and the referees even looked confused.  Then, an announcement came over the P.A. that Gentile just scored his 1,000th career point.  Certainly, a fantastic moment, however I am not in favor of this sort of acknowledgment (the way it was handled).

Galesburg girl's basketball coach Evan Massey and I talked about this earlier this season, as one of his players (Jessica Howard) was approaching the 1,000 point mark.  He asked me what other schools had done for players that scored their 1,000th point.  It caught me off-guard since he has had more than a few in his day as a head coach. 

My opinion on how it should be carried out is that it is acknowledged at the next dead ball, never---never interrupting the game.  It should be announced at the next timeout, or at the end of a quarter, but never should a special timeout be called to acknowledge an individual achievement.  I believe that it is disrespectful to the game of basketball, and certainly the opposing team.  I guess I'm a traditionalist.

Thanks to Macomb statistician Dan Rouse, each team committed 14 turnovers.  Macomb did outrebound Williamsville, 27-23.  However, the Bullets shot 60% from the field (20-33), while Macomb shot 32% (17-52).  The Bombers were just 2-18 (11%) from outside the three-point line.

Gentile was named the Player of the Game.  He finished with 15 points, along with teammate Brad Wagner.  Tanner Schultz also finished in double digits, scoring 10 points.  Tyler Thorman led Macomb with 10 points.

With all the games in the bag, here is my Riverton Shootout All-Name Team

The Name Team
Matt Ferrari (Dwight)
Jason Rock (Midland)
Ozzie Kent (Williamsville)
Southern Foster (Princeton)
Connor Holliday (Riverton)

The Broadcaster's Nightmare Team
Ethan Leskovisek (Delavan)
Jashar Kongjeli (Dwight)
Sune Klarskov (Newark)
Fisnik Seferi (Lanark Eastland)
C.J. Grzincic (Dwight)

The Beau Team (Maroa-Forsyth)
Maroa-Forsyth has the highest per capita Beau's on their team.  BO Banning and Austin BEAUlieu

Game 134 Miles:  95