Run and Stun: 71st STURON 'A' throttles 33rd FTS, 71-22

  • Published
  • By David Poe
  • 71st Flying Training Wing
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  If you were in the stands for intramural hoops, Feb. 19, you may have checked your pockets because 71st Student Squadron 'A' (7-0) was stealing everything that wasn't bolted down.

The 2014 base champions had 15 steals and 25 fast-break points in a 71 - 22 drubbing of 33rd Flying Training Squadron (0-5) in the Vance Game of the Week last week at Bradley Fitness and Sports Center.

The STURON's Tim Martinelli notched a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds while teammate Kyle Green chipped in nine points and nine boards in the squad's seventh-straight victory.

Although the undersized 33rd FTS was locked out of the key from the beginning, timely shooting from Jesse Togawa and Wes Clark kept the Red Dragons on the board as the teams traded baskets for the first 12 minutes.

The 33rd held a brief lead at 14-13 before the 'A' Team went on a 16-point run and outscored their opponents 22-6 for the rest of the half. The STURON led 38-19 at the midpoint.

At halftime, the 33rd FTS team captain Micah Yost (1-6, 0-3 3 PT) said his squad was coming up short on the on-target shooting and aggressiveness that had kept them in the game earlier.

"We need to get hot from the three-point line," said Yost. "We need to shoot better and get more physical on defense."

Martinelli said the STURON's aggressive play on both sides of the court, which sometimes got the better of them in the offensive zone (five unforced first-half turnovers), wasn't a tailored game plan but instead just their brand of basketball.

"We play aggressive and shoot a lot because when we start hitting, we have guys that can get hot and go off," he said. "We'll take those chances."

The type of play Yost said was missing in the first half didn't find the Red Dragons again. Locked out of the key in the half-court game, the team bricked 12 second-half three-point attempts and shot 5-27 overall.

Down the stretch, it was a predictable tale of two teams heading in opposite directions in the 2015 intramural hoops season. The STURON shot a tidy 18-36 in the second half, while the 33rd FTS seemed to count down the minutes with a grim 1-21, ending the game with a final score of 78-23.

After the game, Green, who combined with Martinelli to out rebound the entire 33rd FTS squad, said that in a league with four teams over 500, they aren't looking past any team, yet will continue to keep a special eye on one team - hoops rival the 3rd FTS.