JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH-Texas –
The Air Force Personnel Center will be seeking its third
straight title at the Joint Base San Antonio intramural basketball tournament
that starts Monday at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.
AFPC advanced to the tournament after beating the 502nd
Force Support Squadron, 55-36, in the JBSA-Randolph intramural basketball
championship game March 3 at the Rambler Fitness Center. AFPC won its fourth
straight JBSA-Randolph title.
AFPC went 3-0 during the JBSA-Randolph tournament, beating
its three opponents by an average margin of 17 points. In their first game,
AFPC defeated the Air Force Recruiting Service, 63-39, beat the 502nd FSS in
the tournament semifinals, 63-59, and won the rematch with 502nd FSS in the
title game, 55-36.
The 502nd FSS also advanced to the six team JBSA-level
tournament, which includes the top two teams from JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Fort Sam
Houston and JBSA-Lackland.
In the JBSA-Randolph championship game against the 502nd
FSS, player-coach Michael Gunter led AFPC with 33 points. Gunter said his team
had something to prove against 502nd FSS, which had beaten AFPC twice in
regular season play.
“It was a statement game,” Gunter said. “The statement was,
‘Look, we are here, we are the champs and we are not going anywhere, and we are
preparing ourselves to enter into the JBSA tournament as a well-oiled machine
ready to claim our spot as the champs.’”
AFPC is led by the starting lineup of guards Gunter, Jeremy
Gilchrist, Demetrius Smith and forwards Adam Brakeville and Javon Cruz. Brakeville and Cruz are imposing players in
the lane, with Brakeville standing at 6 feet, 5 inches and Cruz, 6 feet, 4
inches.
Gunter said AFPC’s defense is based on taking away the
opposing team’s strengths and turning them into a weakness.
“If there is a team that goes up and down the court and
shoots three pointers, our defensive strategy is to close out and stay within
an arm’s length of the shooters and force them to go to the basket, where they
have to shoot over our big men,” Gunter said.
Gunter said chemistry and experience are two reasons why
AFPC has won four consecutive JBSA-Randolph titles and is hoping for a
three-peat championship at the JBSA-level tournament.
“The core of the team has been playing together for four
years now,” Gunter said.
Chris Woods, 502nd FSS coach, said his team is in its second
year playing together as a unit. Last year, the 502nd FSS advanced to the
JBSA-Randolph and JBSA-level tournament championship games, losing both times
to AFPC.
“We are making strides,” Woods said. “We are playing for one
another and that’s what we are about.”
The starting lineup for the 502nd FSS includes John
Pettigrew, point guard; Derrick Cook, small forward; Shaun Francious, center;
and Nick Smith and Woods, guards. Cook is the team’s leading scorer at 15
points per game, with Pettigrew averaging 10 points and 10 assists per game.
Woods said the 502nd FSS was able to beat AFPC twice this
year with their fast-paced, up tempo offense. But in the JBSA-Randolph
tournament, Woods said AFPC utilized their inside players of Brakeville and
Cruz to slow the game down.
If the 502nd FSS were to play AFPC in a possible rematch
game in the JBSA-level tournament, Woods said they will need to play a sound,
discipline game to beat them.
Woods said JBSA tournament will be competitive and that his
team will need to play their hardest every game.
“There will be some stiff competition,” Woods said. “We are
going to be looking at it one game at a time and leaving it on the court one
game at a time.”