Twenty minutes before their final regular season contest of the
Spring Intramural Basketball season against Pi Kappa Alpha, the
Altoids sat on the court, stretching and talking.
The tone of their conversation was light-hearted, as they
discussed video games and joked around. Their relaxed pregame
demeanor quickly became serious once warmups began and the court
cleared.
Members of Pike came out to support their team in force, with a
crowd of two very rowdy spectators and an equally vocal bench
warmer on the sideline. A reserve was a luxury the Altoids were not
afforded. Guard Eric Flegal was forced to miss the game due to a
scheduling conflict, so the Altoids only had their starting five
Wednesday night.
Pike should have brought more subs. Despite having a fresh pair
of legs on the court at all times, the Pike team was getting run
into the ground by the Altoids. Their fatigue was obvious, and
multiple times the Altoids scored because a Pike player was
strolling down the court, watching the man he was covering drain a
jumper.
Shea Anderson immediately took advantage of Pike’s
lackadaisical play. Anderson got the Altoids off to a 7-0 run to
begin the game by winning the tip-off, sinking his first lay up of
the game, immediately recording a steal and turning around to drain
a three.
Though they were only down 25-13 at the half, Pike may as well
have been down 125-13. The six Pike players were gassing, hunched
over at the water fountain while most of the Altoids were shooting
around, obviously not succumbing to fatigue.
“They are too fast,” one Pike player muttered.
“I can’t guard them.”
The Altoids’ domination was clearly beginning to torment
the Pike sideline, which rapidly turned its frustration on the
referees.
“C’mon man, learn to ref!” the witty
spectators shouted from their vantage point, sitting on the
sideline.
In the second half, with Pike’s deficit still in double
digits, a Pike guard took a lob pass and had a one-on-one with only
Altoid Yuseff Haid between him and the basket. Haid played
incredibly smart defense, locking his feet and taking an offensive
charge. The Pike guard did not exactly agree with the call.
The Pike guard began spitting profanities and suggestions as to
whether or not the referee should “ref better” in a
rather elevated voice. The referee had a clever retort: he blew his
whistle and put his hands in the form of a “T.” The
technical foul only set off the visibly upset guard, who continued
jawing at the referee from the sidelines until he received his
second technical foul and an invitation to watch the rest of the
game with the team’s two fans. Most of the Altoids and some
of the less enraged Pike players struggled to keep straight
faces.
“That guy was like a little kid,” Altoid Asion
Jackson said.
“Yeah, that was pretty entertaining when he went off all
“˜White Men Can’t Jump’ style. That was pretty
funny,” Altoid Aaron Moore added.
The game was a low-scoring affair, with the Altoids taking it
42-32. Now 3-1, the Altoids advance to the playoffs next week,
where they will try to capture their second IM basketball title of
the school year.
The team is optimistic.
“We have a better record now than we did going into the
playoffs in winter,” Haid pointed out. “I think we will
do just fine.”