John dribbled the ball up the court, still slightly hesitant as to what plays to make.
He took some time off the shot clock before Joseph ran out. John dropped the ball off to Joseph before jogging to the side.
Joseph held the ball, observing the court. Crox was struggling for position once again. Joseph decided he was going to try and drive past Lelo. Lelo kept with him, but did not try to body Joseph out of the way.
Joseph did a stop before turning around, Lelo still on him. Joseph looked out, none of the Beasts moving.
Joseph was forced to throw up a shot which fell short.
Frank rebounded the ball, denying Crox of his chance.
The Beasts ran back on defence. Instead of running back, Joseph stood near Lelo, denying the pass to Lelo.
The ball was passed to Tony instead.
Tony dribbled down the court and passed the ball to Lelo when he passed the half court.
Joseph found no need to play the same defence he did on Harley back in the game against the Jesters.
Lelo passed the ball down to Bash, who was rather deep in the corner. Bash tried doing a backdown on Theodore before doing a turnaround jump shot.
Theodore extended his hand to try and block him, but he could not reach high enough.
The shot went up, but was too powerful, the ball bouncing to the right.
Crox and Frank jumped, Frank winning the rebound. When Frank tried going up, Crox was able to poke the ball from his hands.
Frank tried stealing it back, but the ball was too far from either Centers. Theodore ran for it, scooping it up.
Joseph and Lelo raced to the opposite basket. Leonz noticed it and ran too, Tony right behind him. John wanted to slow things down, so he extended his hands.
Theodore, faced with all these options, threw the ball down the court to Joseph. Joseph ran backwards as he watched the trajectory of the pass, noticing where the players were positioned.
Tony still stuck with Leonz, trailing. Leonz was slightly faster than Tony, so there was a slight gap.
Leonz ran to the left corner.
Joseph jumped for the ball, Lelo not jumping to contest with him.
When he caught it, he threw the ball to Leonz while still in the air. Leonz caught it and instantly got his feet set. Tony jumped, but Leonz faked the shot.
Tony landed and reached out towards Leonz, but was too late. Leonz let the shot fly.
The ball arced in the air before bouncing off the back rim, bouncing towards the middle of the court. Leonz cursed and tried running for it.
Lelo jumped casually for the rebound. Joseph had ran up and managed to jump in time, grabbing the ball while in the air. Lelo's arms came in contact with Joseph's arms as Joseph tried flicking the shot into the basket.
'BEEEEP' (whistle)
The ball missed the rim completely. Joseph glanced over at Coach Dom, hoping he would make the proper adjustments.
"Red #77 shooting foul. #1 Blue Two free throws." (Referee)
While Joseph hung around, there were a few substitutions made.
***
Beasts Substitution:
#15 6'4 Theodore Hatchet (SG/SF) subbed out for #99 6'5 Darius Topac (SF/PF)
#22 6'2 Leonz Lovehart (SG) subbed out for #14 6'3 Rodney Totem (SG/SF)
*
Gunners Substitution:
#77 6'6 Lelo Montez (PG/SG/SF) subbed out for #20 6'3 Kenny Gogovic (PG/SF)
#2 7'1 Frank Contid (C) subbed out for #00 6'7 Wes Queen (SF/PF)
***
Joseph looked around. It was odd that the Gunners would bench their two best players at the same time.
Coach Dom had subbed Leonz and Theodore out to let them rest. Leonz had scored the most of anyone on the court, and he was starting to get tired.
Joseph went to the free throw line. He held the ball in his hands, taking a deep breath as he stared at the rim. He shot the ball.
(1/2) missed
(2/2) made
Joseph back-pedalled as the Gunners went on offence.
Their replacement PG was named Kenny. He surveyed the court before throwing the ball in to Wes, the substitute for Frank.
Wes was not a Center, but a forward. He simply passed it out to Dominico, who was being guarded by John.
Dominico swung his elbows before driving into the paint. John was slightly behind him. Dominico then threw the ball to Bash, who was in the left corner.
Darius stepped up to guard Bash. Bash did a slow pump fake before putting his head down to drive. Darius tried not to be overpowered, keeping his arms up to avoid any fouls too.
Bash brought the ball up and tried shooting a floater. The shot missed. Crox easily got the rebound, passing it to Joseph.
Joseph dribbled down the court as their offence was being set up.
The Beasts' two best shooters had left the game. Joseph thought about talking through with Coach Dom on keeping at least one of them in at any time.
Joseph passed the ball over to John before running to set a screen for John. John dribbled by before pulling back. The Gunners seemed to have adjusted themselves, putting Bash on Crox instead of the smaller Wes.
John bounce passed the ball over to Crox, who managed to get post position. Bash tried to push back, but Crox simply overpowered him.
Crox did a spin and an easy layup.
***
Time: 3:24
Score:23-18
***
The Gunners Coach started getting mad, standing up. Meanwhile, Lelo was drinking from his bottle, looking at the game without much interest.
"What are they doing?" (G Coach)
Frank stood up, walking to the Coach.
"Coach, put me back in." (Frank)
Frank was sent back to the bench before he could even try to say anything else. Frank simply sighed and sat down beside Lelo.
"It's no use talking to him." (Lelo)
Frank watched the game continue.
"As the leader, you should be leading this team. Why aren't you being the leader you were last year?" (Frank)
Lelo made eye contact with Frank, his eyes reflecting something similar to boredom.
Lelo then looked at their Coach as he paced up and down the sideline, shouting at his players.
The Gunners had gotten a new Coach after the previous season, and the practice game was one of the first few games he would be coaching for the Gunners.
Lelo pointed at the Coach and waited for him to be out of range.
"I have no interest in playing for him. He can bench me, whatever, he is not a Coach that I respect." (Lelo)
"You're going to just lose then?" (Frank)
"I'll lose as many times as it takes to get him off the team. As simple as that." (Lelo)
Meanwhile, on the Beasts bench.
Leonz sat down, looking out. He had scored twelve of their points, even limiting whoever he was guarding from scoring much.
He felt good about the game, and as the clock winded down, the game started to look worst for the Gunners.
Their two star players, Lelo and Frank were not subbed back in for the rest of the first quarter. With Joseph leading the way, the Beasts were pulling ahead slowly with whatever time was left on the clock.
Leonz noticed something about the Beasts.
They had limited perimeter scoring. The only ones who could potentially be snipers would be himself and maybe Theodore. The Gunners Coach should have realised that by now, but the Gunners did not look like they were making any adjustments.
The Beasts had scored majority of their points outside of Leonz in the paint, which was not a good sign for the future.
For the rest of the first quarter, Leonz was not subbed back into the game.
'BEEEEP' (whistle)
"End of first quarter." (Referee)
***
Time: 00:00 (End of Q1)
Score: 30-21 (Beasts lead by 9)
***
The first quarter was over. Coach Dom gathered the boys together as they discussed their strategy for the second quarter.
There was 130 seconds, slightly more than two minutes before the next quarter started.
"Alright, for the second quarter, we'll start with Harper playing the pure PG. Quinn's going to get some rest." (Dom)
Dom flipped the clipboard.
"Hatchet will be going back in. Lovehart will stay on the bench for now. Devonte will also be sitting down. We'll play with a lineup of Harper, Totem, Hatchet, Topac and Spencer." (Dom)
It was a lineup with mostly their bench, Theodore being the only starter on the floor to begin the second quarter.
"If Contid is on the floor, we'll play a five out, get Contid switched onto the ball handler at the perimeter. Free up interior space. I expect pick and rolls between Harper and Spencer." (Dom)
Leonz looked over at the Gunners bench, who were being blasted by their coach. However, the entire time, Lelo was looking in a different direction, not seeming to care in the least.
'BEEEEP' (whistle)
***
Q2 (begin)
*
Zodiac Beasts:
PG: #0 6'0 John Harper
SG: #14 6'3 Rodney Totem
SF: #15 6'4 Theodore Hatchet
PF: #99 6'5 Darius Topac
C: #2 6'10 Spex Spencer
*
East Gunners:
PG: #11 5'10 Porter Hampton
SG: #32 6'3 Humi Lakass
SF: #20 6'3 Kenny Gogovic
PF: #00 6'7 Wes Queen
C: #6 6'10 Jared Bocn
***
***
First Quarter Key Player Stats:
Beasts:
#22 SG 6'2 Leonz Lovehart, 12 points, 4/7 FG
#1 PG 6'4 Joseph Quinn, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 TOV, 1PF, 1/2 FT, 3/6 FG
Gunners:
#77 PG 6'6 Lelo Montez, 7 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 TOV, 1PF, 3/6 FG
#2 C 7'1 Frank Contid, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 TOV, 0/2 FT, 3/3 FG
***