Porter ran down the court, dribbling the ball. He did a pass fake to Kenny, making John shift his balance slightly.
Porter held the ball with both hands, holding it above his head as he tried to find someone to pass to.
Kenny drove in, Rodney just a step behind.
Porter threw a bounce pass to Kenny. Kenny caught the ball, taking one dribble before he met the twin towers of the Beasts, Spex and Crox under the rim.
He tried performing a sidestep, but Crox was just too large for him to shoot over. Kenny threw the ball over his head and behind him, hoping one of the Gunners would be able to catch it.
Humi ran towards it. Leonz ran and jumped, snatching the ball out of the air before Humi could get to it. Leonz landed and passed to John, who was already running down the court.
John had Porter trailing him. Rodney and Leonz were also running down on offence. Kenny was a step late, leaving the Gunners only Porter and Humi on defence.
John glanced behind him before leaping. Porter jumped too, arm extended for a block attempt.
John whipped a pass to Rodney, who was driving in. Leonz stopped at the three point line, hands in front of him. Humi stopped with Leonz, preventing the pass.
Rodney took a single dribble before jumping with both feet, arm extended high above him. Porter landed and stepped away, unable to do anything.
Rodney dunked the ball, landing and staring Porter down before running back on defence.
John high-fived Rodney as they ran back.
The Beasts were on a roll.
Porter inbounded the ball to Humi, who passed it back. John tapped Leonz's shoulder.
Leonz stood in front of Porter at the half court line. John covered Humi instead. Porter tried to dribble pass him, but Leonz was able to use his body to stop his advance.
Porter threw the ball to Humi instead. John dropped low and put a hand in front of Humi's face.
Humi threw it inside to Jared, who was being outmatched by Crox.
Jared was about to pass it back out to Porter, but Leonz was still hounding him. Kenny set a screen for Porter, allowing Porter to get by Leonz.
Porter drove to the right.
Jared passed the ball to Porter. Porter raised up for a floater again. Rodney jumped out from the side and swatted the ball away. The ball went behind Porter, in Kenny and Leonz's direction.
Kenny caught it, but Leonz closed in so suddenly that he accidentally took an extra step.
'BEEEP' (whistle)
"#20 Red walked, Blue ball." (Referee)
Joseph flexed his arm and showed the number 0 with his hands.
John nodded and jogged off the court, high-fiving Joseph on the way out.
***
Beasts Substitution:
[#0 6'0 John Harper]—> [#1 6'4 Joseph Quinn]
***
The Gunners still did not make a substitution.
***
Time: 8:16
Score: 44-27 (Beasts lead by 17)
***
With how big the lead was, it was difficult to tell that the Gunners were a playoff team.
Rodney inbounded the ball to Joseph, who dribbled up the court casually. Humi was the one to guard Joseph, Porter guarding Leonz instead.
Joseph got to the three point line before holding the bottom of the ball at his waist. Humi, not knowing what Joseph was trying to do, did not react.
Joseph threw a high scoop pass. The ball arched high in the air before falling around the rim. Jared and Wes tried to deny both Crox and Spex, but they were unable to do so.
Crox jumped, reaching higher than Jared. He grabbed the ball with both hands and dunked it in easily, Jared nowhere close to blocking the alley-oop.
Crox landed, smiling and pointing at Joseph.
"Hell yeah!" (Joseph)
When Frank was in the game, they were unable to perform the alley-oop. However, with Jared as the Gunners Center, they could abuse the size advantage however they wanted.
Leonz ran from the right corner and stuck close to Porter, denying him of the pass. Porter tried running, but Leonz was faster, taller and stronger.
Kenny caught the inbound pass instead. Kenny dribbled up the court before stopping at the three point line, pulling up from three. Rodney jumped to try and block him, but was too late.
Kenny released the shot. The ball hit off the backboard before going in.
Three point shooting was a problem for the Gunners, mostly because the Beasts had a strong perimeter defence. As a result, the Gunners did not take too many threes. Even for the Beasts, other than Leonz, there were not many Three-Pointers.
Joseph dribbled the ball up the court, surveying the defence. Leonz stood at the left corner, ready to shoot. Porter was close by, trying to deny him the pass.
Both Crox and Spex were playing inside. Porter was at the right wing, walking casually, knowing that the play was not for him.
Joseph held the bottom of the ball and swung up. Humi jumped, reaching out to stop the alley-oop. Joseph stopped the pass short with his left hand before setting a shot. Joseph shot a long three with a hand in his face.
"Off!" (Joseph)
The ball bounced off the right side of the rim.
"I got it!" (Crox)
Crox jumped, grabbing the rebound with both hands. He landed and faked a shot. Jared stuck to him, defending him well.
Joseph cut in from the left, Humi slightly too slow.
Porter closed in to cover Joseph's drive. Crox passed it to Joseph, who had Porter in front of him, feet set and ready to take a charge.
Humi ran to the corner to cover Leonz, who had his arms in front of him. Joseph did a behind-the-back pass directly into Leonz's hands.
Joseph spun around Porter, unable to stop his momentum in time, but managed to avoid the charge call.
Leonz caught the ball and immediately shot.
Humi came flying out from the side, managing to scratch the ball with a finger. Leonz landed.
"Short!" (Leonz)
Humi landed off to the side. Joseph got up from the ground and ran away from the baseline. Porter pointed at Joseph, Humi running after him.
Spex grabbed the rebound over Wes. Spex then threw it out to Leonz.
Leonz set his shot again, shooting without hesitation. Porter managed to get a good close in.
"Tsk." (Leonz)
"Long!" (Leonz)
Leonz ran to the right, still outside the three-point line. Porter followed after him.
The ball slid off the right side of the rim. Jared tapped the ball up. Crox managed to tap it up when it was coming down. Eventually, Crox grabbed it, Jared almost getting it.
Leonz did a sudden stop and ran back to the corner. Crox passed it back to Leonz, who caught the ball, set his feet and shot as fast as he could.
Porter ran after him, a step late.
Leonz shot the ball, Porter jumping. However, Porter was unable to reach high enough.
The ball rattled inside the rim before falling in.
Leonz decided he was not going to do his usual celebration.
He ran back, shaking his head. It took three attempts for him to make one three, he did not like it.
The Beasts had practiced a set when they were playing a double Center lineup. It was to let Leonz shoot from the outside, and should he miss, rebound and get it back to Leonz.
It sounded like a simple plan, but Coach Dom made them practice screens to get Leonz open.
'BEEEEP' (Gunners Timeout)
***
Time: 7:23
Score: 49-30 (Beasts lead by 19)
***
The Beasts went back to the bench in a good mood. Compared to their game against the Jesters, things were going much smoother.
"Don't tire yourselves out. We still got half a quarter and half of the game left." (Coach Dom)
"We've got a decent lead. If we keep this up, we can probably ensure our win by the end of the third*." (Joseph)
* He's referring to the third quarter
"You never know what might happen. You've been playing their second unit the entire second quarter so far, so front get a big head. By the end of the Second, I want to stretch the lead to at least twenty-five. If y'all can do that, we'll have the starters on the bench to start the second half." (Coach Dom)
Leonz drank some water, listening to whatever Coach Dom was saying. He was feeling slightly winded, likely since he had just recently recovered from his ankle injury.
"For now, I'll rest Lovehart. Garland will sub back in. We'll try to play a supersized lineup and dominate the paint." (Coach Dom)
Leonz was about to request to stay in the game, but decided to shut up instead.
Theodore was the closest to the coach on the bench, Leonz next, followed by John.
'BEEEEP' (timeout over)
The Beasts walked onto the court.
***
Beasts Substitution:
[#22 6'2 Leonz Lovehart]—> [#6 6'8 Toby Garland Jr]
Gunners Substitution:
[#11 5'10 Porter Hampton]—> [#10 6'3 Dominico Das]
[#00 6'7 Wes Queen]—> [#2 7'1 Frank Contid]
***
***
Lineup:
Beasts:
PG: Joseph Quinn
SG: Rodney Totem
SF: Toby Garland Jr
PF: Spex Spencer
C: Crox Devonte
*
Gunners:
PG: Humi Lakass
SG: Dominico Das
SF: Kenny Gogovic
PF: Jared Bocn
C: Frank Contid
***