July 22, 2009
By
Tim
Chialastri
Capitol Hoops President
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Dematha
Defends Rock Title . KIMA loses heartbreaker
Capitol Hoops Press
The 2009 Rock Summer
League came to a close last night when directors Al
Moraz Sr. and Al Moraz Jr. cut the lights in
High Point High School around 9pm , but not before a
crowd of about 500 spectators witnessed one of the
better championship games in league history.
The defending champion Dematha Stags really got a
scare as a determined KIMA team seemed 37 seconds
away from a huge shocker. Karreem Storey's two
clutch free throws gave KIMA a 49-45 advantage with
just a few ticks left. The presence of a possible
upset surfaced heavily throughout the Beltsville , Md gymnasium.
The very next play junior guard Quinn Cook(17pts)
drove full court , missed on a short layup , got his
own rebound and flipped one up that fell threw as he
plummeted to the floor. Dematha had a chance , but
they would need a mistake from their opponents at
this point.
Dematha would get that mistake as a turnover on
the inbound pass for KIMA sent Jerian Grant (16pts)
to the free throw line , moments later knotting the
game up with 8.9 seconds. Grant showed his
invaluable aspect that he brings to his ball club ,
just making smart plays consistently.
Despite an obvious mental breakdown on KIMA's
part , the scrappy team would get yet another shot.
Somehow Dematha would miss an assignment on their
press , sending KIMA's Devin Martin(12pts) and
Jonathan Arledje(12pts) on a fast break 2 on 1.
Martin later fumbled the ball out of bounds and we
we're headed for overtime at the Rock.
KIMA's Jonathan Arledje who had been great in the
1st half , scoring 10pts , became quiet only scoring
two throughout the second and overtime periods
combined. Dematha was able to capitalize and four
starters contributed in overtime giving the Stags a
59-54 victory and back to back Rock Championship
titles.
High Flying senior Victor Oladipo of Dematha was
solid adding a much needed 11pts in the win.
