Two championships, one team plays both

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Burton
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  For the third year running, Incirlik's reigning basketball champions, the 39th Civil Engineer, Mission Support and Services Squadron combined basketball team, earned a place in the Over-30 League and Intramural League championship games. 

The CES/MSS/SVS won the Over-30 championship, dominating the 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron team, 65-47. However, the 39th Medical Group defeated CES/MSS/SVS in the Intramural championship, 61-51 in the first game, and 70-57 in the final game. 

The Over-30 championship game began with LRS getting the tip-off, soon after Rob Smith, CE/MSS/SVS, stole the ball and scored the first two-pointer of the game, a move he followed with a quick lay-up. Smith, a returning player from last year's championship team, scored 13 points total in the first half. 

With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, and LRS trailing CES/MSS/SVS by 19 points, Bryan Shipman, LRS, ran the ball crosscourt and sunk a layup seconds before the end of the first half, bringing the score to 40-25, CES/MSS/SVS. 

Shipman, LRS's top scorer of the game with 15 points, started the second half in LRS's favor with a two-pointer, but the rest of the game went to CES/MSS/SVS. 

However, CES/MSS/SVS didn't have long to celebrate their victory, because every member of the Over-30 League also plays on the CES/MSS/SVS Intramural League team. 

Tony Mason, the second of two returning players from last year's CES/MSS/SVS championship team, believes playing the Over-30 championship first was an advantage for the Intramural championship. 

"In the Over-30 game we really gelled and came together as a team, which contributed to our success," Mason said. "From the start of the season, the CES/MSS/SVS goal was to repeat lasts year's victories and win both championships." 

MDG had other plans. 

Since MDG lost a semi-final game to CES/MSS/SVS March 20, they had to win two games to claim the championship title while CES/MSS/SVS only had to win one game for the victory. 

But MDG decided they were up to the task. Led by Mark Mosley with 16 points scored, MDG beat CES/MSS/SVS in the first game. 

During the break, before the second and final game for the championship, Mason told his CES/MSS/SVS teammates "We have too much talent on this team to lose. Next game, we've got to step it up." 

The first 10 minutes of the second game was a tug-of-war as MDG and CES/MSS/SVS took turns scoring. Angel Garcia led the MDG in the first half with 18 points and Marvin Harris netted 10 points for CE/MSS/SVS with a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to bring the score to 43-33, MDG. 

William Hoke, MDG, came out strong with a three-pointer in the first 20 seconds of the second half. With 11:05 left on the clock, Tim Jones, CES/MSS/SVS, made a two-pointer bringing CES/MSS/SVS within nine points of MDG, a move quickly answered by Hoke with his own two-pointer bringing, the score to 55-44, MDG. 

With less than 10 minutes to go, the MDG crowd began stomping their feet and cheering, "Defense!" 

Todd Holmes, CES/MSS/SVS, response to the MDG fans was sinking two back-to-back three-pointers, cutting MDG's lead to six points with eight minutes left in the game. MDG and CES/MSS/SVS then took turns adding points to the board, with MDG getting the better end. 

With only 60 seconds left on the clock, Hoke broke free of CES/MSS/SVS's defense, ran the ball all the way down court and sealed MDG's victory with a slam dunk. 

"They wanted it more than we did, but we definitely put up a battle for them," said Mason. "Either way it was fun for all of us." 

Andrew Clarke, MDG team coach, said his team's win will silence the critics. 

"Everybody thought we couldn't do it because a lot of players were injured or deployed," he said. "We only played one game all season as a full team and didn't have a lot of time to train. You can't teach heart or persistence, these guys deserved this win."