FOX IN A HOLE
Have you ever heard the tale of The OG and The Fox? No? Oh, it's a fable as old as time. One with egos and aliens. Kats, Davids and Goliaths. A story with Hart, an impressive Castle, and even a highly combustible "Brunson" burner...
It had been a sweltering summer day in the city. Shimmering skyscrapers and steaming streets where the shopkeepers cleaned and cooled their entry engulfed the air so thick you could smear it on your skin. The smell of duality, sweet flowers and sweating stink sticking to the city floor. Our hero, the OG, standing on business like usual, minding his own through the mechanical madness. From the corner of his shaded eye he saw the sly fox slinking in and out of strange shadows, seemingly unaware of the standing room only. During the daylight it was hard to make out, but if you squinted slightly you could see that the strange shadow keeping fox cool was cast by an alienated alien, oddly misshapen but bigger than any man OG had ever seen. Initially unnerved, but you can't scare an original gangster and even with the fox and his shadow owning the scene it seemed too good to be true, if you know what I mean. The lead with the alien and sly fox grew to 28th street and where OG and crew stood was situated between 7th and 8th Avenues and West 31st and 33rd Streets, he liked the smell of the Garden there.
The sun set and the giant shadow slowly sunk, forcing the fox to show out. But fox faltered. The lead on the leash dwindled, seemingly fatigued from the city heat. But just then the fox saw his chance! A loose ball ahead of the pack where his foxy speed had always allowed him to shine. With victory in sight and lead in hand the small fox sped and leapt with dreams of victory so close he could feel it. But OG's never sweat, they remain calm, cool and confident in these moments to snuff out the sly fox trying to run game on their city. OG, with the timing of Times Square itself guiding his flight, managed to swat the fox! What just happened? In the Spur of a moment the tide swung with a subtle Knick piercing the fox's fragile ego. Then, mere moments later, with his crew on crutches and the weight of the city on his shoulders; touched by the hand of God, OG found a seam in a sea of seamlessness to shoot his shot and send the fox and shadow back to their hole, as he single handedly saved the Garden.
But it doesn't end there, for this story has a fairy tale ending. Since the fox was still a threat and the alien was talking shit, OG and his crew knew what they had to do. Behind their big Kat they strolled into the desert Castle, far from the city lights to make sure the threat wouldn't see the sun rise. Inspired by OG's miracle in the Garden, the smallest cat in the crew couldn't be contained as he clawed his way to a forty ball. Burnt by the Brunson burner, the sly fox could only tuck tail, left to wonder...what if not for OG? City one, Alien none.
Weekly Recap:
Scoring 71 points in the first half of the first game of the week is one way to start for sure. Dad Bods were seemingly sick of the Goonies Squad and their behind the back adventures without checking in so instead they belted the "Never Say Die" crew into next week, 132-87. Jordan Duda was wielding the biggest belt as he went off for 51 pts including 13-18 cheddar balls. Jassen Lopez added 20 pts, 16 rebs, 6 dimes and 2 thefts in the bludgeoning. For Goon Squad, not even Data himself could come up with a contraption to stop the onslaught of a hundred Dads fury but Jaylen Lovato did his best with a very efficient 27 pts, 7 rebs and 6 assists.
After an even halftime score of 36 all, The Standard went ahead and upgraded to "The Superb" as they routed a tough Team Nuevo and took home the checkered flag 84-62. Diego Alinas was shifting and hitting that gas on his way to 26 pts, 15 rebs, 3 dimes and 2 thefts, while Carlos "Los" Quintana put up 19 pts, 14 rebs, 3 dimes and 3 thefts. Team Nuevo got 27 pts from Dom Baca but looked old everywhere else in the second stanza.
Santa Fe Style was not interested in any choreographed flash Mob on Tuesday night as they stoked the Kiva fireplace, laid some saltillo tile and hung chile ristras all over the un-unisoned flashers to take a 92-73 dub. TJ Sanchez was handing out turquoise gems with a 30 piece to complement 12 rebs, 3 dimes and 2 swipes, while Finn Coles used an aerial array of dunks and funk to gather 19 pts and 8 rebs. For Mob, Eric Martinez managed a solid line of 18 pts, 13 rebs and 6 dimes but the rest of his team couldn't get in sync with his sick moves.
Capping our four game slate were those Killer Bees buzzing hard behind sharp shooting Brian Fairchild's 22 pts and PJ Lovato's nectar-inducing 21 pt, 21 reb double double. The swarm was real as five Bees managed double digits in this win over the anemic acronyms 86-69. IPS did get an SOS signal out to Alex Gutierrez who answered the call with 28 pts and 8 boards but the rest of the boys were MIA.
The titles didn't line up in game one Wednesday night as a role reversal took place with the Degenerates playing elite and Zia Elite looking degenerated and despondent. Josh DeHerrera paced the oxymorons with 21 pts and "Super" Mario Archuleta added 17 pts and a game high 13 rebs to help give out an 81-45 thumping. The not so Elite this night did get 17 pts and 9 rebs from Elijah Rodriguez but on this night the sacred four of the Zia lore couldn't rally these Elites even if the Pueblo Gods themselves fell from the heavens.
It was Prime Time for exercising a no Medium Kings march on the Desert Sage Academy gym for the seven o'clock hour as the Amazonian wonders delivered a modest protest and a 75-63 win for democracy. Kamron Tiedeman was next day delivery efficient as he posted 23 pts, 11 rebs, 2 dimes, 3 swipes and a swat, meanwhile Kareem Masibuwa had his signage dialed in with 16 pts and 9 rips. The mid level royalty did get a solid 17 pts, 11 rebs, 2 assists and a steal from Dedrick Johnson but all the king's men must have missed the mass memo.
Those earth toned, stucco, flat roofers were back in action with vigas blazing as Santa Fe Style snuffed out the Heatwave like a piñon incense cone with a 102-90 win. TJ Sanchez once again donned the most colorful poncho on this way to 29 pts, 12 rebs, 6 dimes and 5 thefts but got some big enchilada energy from Oliver Fell with his 19 pts, 5 boards and post presence, netting 6-8 free throws. For the lava surfers Jonathan Ealey got pretty sick with it as he lit up 33 pts and 4 assists but the boiling barrels were too tough to manage for most the team as they never recovered from the 27-44 first half meltdown.
We saved the best for last this week as we put a bow on the 35+ league with 505 Unit vs Mob representing the retirement homes finest in this season's championship. After a grueling first half knotted at 40-39 behind some sharp shooting from Unit's Brandon Encinias the merry Mobsters were forced to go man and mark their territory from these long distance masters of the area coded universe to muster a hard fought 79-69 victory. Andrew Ellsworth was a pinstripe suit and trench coat in one as he led the Mob with 21 pts, 8 rebs, 6 dimes and 3 swipes to take home MVP honors. Eric Martinez managed the getaway vehicle with 15 pts, 6 rebs and a game high 9 dimes for Capone and company. The aforementioned Encinias racked up the most minutes on his calling card dialing in a game high 32 pts, 7 rebs and 2 steals to garner All Tourney honors. Rob CdeBaca struggled with his long distance calls but did manage 10 pts, 7 rebs and a team high 8 assists in the loss. Great game fellas and thanks for a sweet season 505 Unit.
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
