MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (April 11, 2013) -- Combat Instructors Artillery Instructor Battery’s intramural basketball team rocketed to victory against Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 45-34, during a National League basketball game April 11 at the Barber Physical Activity Center.
CI AIB entered the game with an 11-5 record, looking to secure their position in third place in the league standings. Their young, energetic team weaved back and forth as they warmed up, shooting high arcing three-pointers from outside of the line and smooth layups in the paint. In the standings they were tied for third with Base Motor Transport, but hoped to pull ahead with a win just in time for the upcoming playoffs.
AFOSI, an older and visibly more mature team, worked on their game beneath the net. While some players launched shots into the hoop, others snatched at rebounds as the ball fell into their hungry hands.
The game started with CI AIB stealing a quick lead from AFOSI with fast breaks from Aaron Johnson and Damian Deal.
Ten minutes into the first half, CI AIB had racked up 10 points to AFOSI’s eight and, although they were off to a good start, their coach and teammate, Teddy Deshazier, was not happy with their opponents scoring as many points as they were.
“Are we going to play some defense?,” shouted Deshazier from the sidelines as Ruben Louis, a broad-shouldered player for AFOSI, pressed down the court with ease. CI AIB could move the ball well enough to climb the score boards, but the size difference between players was undeniable. AFOSI was an all around bigger team and was harder to defend.
“Don’t worry about their size,” said Deshazier. “Play a full court press and give them some good, solid [defense]!”
Players on both teams tested their conditioning as they rushed back and forth on the court trying to snag a tipped ball and grab rebounds under the net. CI AIB was quick, but AFOSI kept up with them all the way through to the end.
Andres Aquino, coach for AFOSI, flagged the referee for a time out. The tension snapped and the two teams gathered at their respective benches, drinking water and congratulating one another on points scored so far.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the first half, CI AIB still held the lead 13 - 9.
Once play resumed, the pressure was back on. At the end of the first half CI AIB held the lead, 24 - 17.
“We’re going to keep the pressure,” said Deshazier during halftime. “But you’ve got to be smart out there; if you don’t think you can take it all the way, you need to pass the ball.”
AFOSI maintained their dominance in the paint during the second half by snatching nearly all rebounding shots from either team, and the opportunities for points allowed AFOSI to begin to close the gap.
With 18 minutes left, the scoreboard showed them down by only 6 points.
The momentum gained from stolen rebounds would be short lived, as CI AIB pushed a full court press to beat out AFOSIs rebounds.
The time ticked on, and the scores steadily climbed. When the final buzzer sounded CI AIB had won, 45 - 34.
“We won because we played our game, not theirs,” said Damian, a player for CI AIB and a student for Quantico Middle/ High School. “Coming in we were just looking for the win.”
Simply winning was not good enough for CI AIB’s coach.
“We had a couple of runs where we outhustled them, but overall we could have been much better,” Deshazier said. “Looking to the next game against Base Motor Transport, they’re going to try to get into our heads. We’ve got a younger team, but we’ll pull out a win and hold on to third place.”
Correspondent: Paris.capers@usmc.mil