Metro Sports Youth
KC Truth Black 2015 Win the Metro Sports Youth Holiday Hoops Championship
Dec 21st
The KC Truth Black 2015 competed in the 8th Grade Division of the Metro Sports Youth (MSY) Holiday Hoops Basketball Tournament, on December 11-13.
The Truth won their pool by defeating both the KC Spartans Red and the Kansas Elite. In winning their pool, the Truth once again ended up at the Sprint Center’s College Basketball Experience to play for an MSY Championship. This time The Truth faced the KC Spartans Black.
The first half of the championship game was hotly contested on both sides. The Truth faced a disciplined Spartan Team that moved the ball well and shot the ball wisely. The Spartans also had some success in slowing down The Truth’s fast paced, transition-oriented offense. The Truth, for their part, kept focused on their offensive game plan, while deploying their trademark stifling defense. And, although the Spartans kept finding ways to score, The Truth made sure that each Spartan bucket was a hard-earned one.
The score at halftime was 22-21, in favor of the Spartans.
In the second half, however, a different story began to unfold. The Truth’s defensive efforts started paying dividends. The Spartans started to wear down under the pressure. Guard Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner led the Truth defensive effort with four steals in the second stanza, and his team was ultimately able to limit Spartans to a mere 8 points for the half. On the other end of the court, The Truth were able to keep up their scoring pace, by capitalizing on steals and forced turnovers, and by staying focussed offensively. The Truth ended up winning the championship, 43-29, in a game that was played much more closely than the score would indicate.
KC Truth Black 2015 Win MSY Thanksgiving Time Out Tournament Championship
Dec 5th
The KC Truth Black 2015 competed in the 7th Gold Division of the Metro Sports Youth Thanksgiving Time Out Tournament, on November 28-29, 2009.
There were four teams in the gold division, and each team played the other in a round-robin format. The 1st and 2nd place teams in the division would earn a trip to the championship game, to be played at the College Basketball Experience (CBE), in the Sprint Center.
The Truth won their pool convincingly by beating the KC Elite, the KC Heat Elite, and the Lee’s Summit Red Raiders, all by double-digit margins. They then headed to the CBE for the championship game against the Red Raiders, who had come in 2nd in the pool.
The Red Raiders came into the championship with high hopes of beating the Truth. In their pool game, the Red Raiders had actually gone into half-time with a 22-20 lead on the Truth, largely due to Truth turnovers and missed shots. However, the Truth came out in the second half of that game firing on all cylinders, and quickly went on a 10-0 run, on the strength of renewed defensive energy and a more aggressive offensive look. Guards Drew Lock, Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner, Shawntez Scroggins, and Cartier Dean set the defensive tone right off the bat in the second half by patrolling the Red Raider perimeter, allowing no penetration and causing multiple turnovers. On the other end of the court Bonner, Lock and Scroggins set an equally agressive offensive tone early in the second half by taking over the lanes and baselines with unguardable drives to the basket. Inside, bigs Tyrone Gibbs and Vince Eskina got serious and took over under the basket. The Red Raiders were shaken up, and never fully recovered from the second-half Truth onslaught, and the Truth went on to win 42-32.
In the championship, the Truth picked up where they left off with the Red Raiders in the pool game, and quickly established a 13-2 lead. Big man Eskina accounted for 9 of those first 13 points. Following Eskina’s lead, the rest of the Truth players, went on a balanced, game-long scoring frenzy. Ultimately, the Truth finished the championship game with a commanding 66-22 victory, dashing the Red Raiders’ hopes for redemption.