The KC Truth Black travelled to Lawrence, Kansas, on December 9-10, for the Jayhawk Classic.  The Truth competed in the 8th grade division against the JBBA Hoops Blue, the Celtics and the Mo-Kan Elite.  The Truth was the only 7th grade team competing in this field of four teams.

On Saturday, the Truth faced the JBBA Hoops Blue first.  The Truth started out slowly, to say the least.  The Hoops jumped out to an early 9-2 lead. Coach Newton called a time-out and strongly advised his team that they needed to kick their game into a higher gear, and fast.  That they did.  In short order, under the leadership of guard Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner, the Hoops lead was erased and The Truth steadily took the game over, eventually winning by a score of 64-43.

The Truth then moved on to the next game, against the Celtics.  No slow start for The Truth this time around, though, as they quickly took a 12-0 running jump into what would be a very high-scoring game for them.  By the end of the game, The Truth had cruised to victory on the strength of a whopping 76 points.

The Truth would face the Mo-Kan Elite 8th grade team the following day, for what turned out to be a showdown between the two unbeaten teams in the division.

Coach Newton and his team knew that the championship game would be their toughest by far in this tournament.  The Mo-Kan Elite boasted great size and very skilled perimeter shooting.

But there’s nothing that gets The Truth going like a challenge.  The Truth were ready.

As the buzzer sounded to begin the game, The Truth charged out of the gate and quickly took control of the game.  The Truth boasts a highly skilled contingent of guards, any one of which can strike quickly from the perimeter.  In this game, combo guard Cartier Dean set the tone early by attacking the lane and scoring The Truth’s first four points on the strength of 2-2 free throw shooting and a field goal.  Big man Tyrone Gibbs then added a lay-up to put The Truth up 6-0.  The Mo-Kan got on the board with 2 points, then, but The Truth shrugged that score off as Fuzzy Bonner exploded into the lane, collapsing defenders, and dished the rock back to a wide open — you guessed it– Cartier Dean.  Who promptly sunk a three-pointer.

That early 9-2 lead was extended by The Truth to a 17-3 lead, and set the tone for the game.  The Mo-Kan Elite was able to chip away at The Truth lead, but never got to within less than 6 points of that lead.  What was expected to be a nip-and-tuck game from the beginning was dominated by The Truth in all phases.

The Truth have been working extensively on their conditioning and on their defensive strategies and intensity, and the results were evident in this championship game.  The Truth’s perimeter defense was so relentless that the Mo-Kan shooters couldn’t find a comfort zone.  The Truth boasts a contingent of speedy and aggressive guards, and all of them took their turn in creating defensive havoc for the Mo-Kan offense.  In the lane, the Truth big men were unfazed by the larger Mo-Kan players.  They were focussed on boxing out for rebounds and so relentless in protecting the lane that they altered their fair share of the Mo-Kan bigs’ shot attempts.  In fact, Truth big Vince Eskina was so relentless, he ended up fouling out.  But not before making his mark on the game in a big way.

On offense, The Truth showed great chemistry and court savvy, resulting in great success in getting the ball to an open man.  The dribble-drive penetration of Bonner and the other guards often resulted in hand-offs to Truth big men that came close to fooling even the intended recipient of the assist.  Plays were running like clock work, and teammates were looking for and finding each other down court in transition.  The Truth were clicking away at what they do best — run and gun.

In another crucial phase of the game, The Truth guard corps took turns dismantling the Mo-Kan press.  They would coolly scan the court as the Mo-Kan press advanced, waiting until the pressure was almost on and releasing the ball to teammates, creating match-up numbers problems for the Mo-Kan defenders left down court.

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