DoCo Crusaders get jump on Base team

Bouncing basketballs and screeching sneakers were the amplified sounds heard during the spring season’s final play-off game held in Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany’s Thomason Gym, April 10.

The DoCo Crusaders and MCLB Albany’s basketball teams faced off in a head-to-head, toggle game for the championship title.

From the jump, the unstoppable DoCo Crusaders took the lead and there was no turning back as they ran off to a commanding lead in the first half.

Within the first 12 minutes of the game, the Crusaders had racked up a 14-point lead and, with one minute left on the clock going into halftime, DoCo boasted a score of 41-19.

The post halftime attempts brought no relief for Base as the relentless speed, ball passing, rebounding and scoring from the Crusaders held steady, further increasing their point spread.

Despite their best efforts, Base failed to recover from DoCo’s 30-point lead and was defeated in their uphill struggle by a final score of 71-41.

With assists from their teammates, leading scorers for the Crusaders were Kenny Ware and Darrell Williams. The pair’s three-point shots from every angle on the court seemed effortless.

According to Ware, Base had defeated the Crusaders in a regular season game and this win was an earned vindication match for them.

“We just came in focused on the championship game,” Ware said. “We had been in a dog fight with them before and we just wanted to play our best tonight. They beat us in our last game against them because we were short of some of our players. We ended up getting blown out by them, so we owed them this (defeat).”

Williams attributed their 30-point victory to the fact that the Crusaders team just “came out to play.”

“I don’t know how many points I scored,” he said. “When I was out there, I just focused on the game. I wasn’t worried about (any) calls (by the officials), I just played my best game and I had fun.”

MCLB Albany’s player/coach, Kenneth Carroll commented on his team’s loss.