Period 3Maley's No Replacement for Lovel ElToday, as I was observing the Love El's (1-8) featuring Mr. Maley (who replaced the absent Kalekey Love El), I noticed a lack of team-wide effort. It's my opinion that this strong team could have come together to conquer the other teams, but simply didn't get it done today. I know Mondays can be dull and tiring but we need to step it up on Tuesday. I expect a much better performance and believe that this team has a chance to go on a long winning streak if they are able to make the appropriate adjustments.
by Raesharnae BrooksBallin!Ballers (7-2) prolonged their winning streak on Monday! The first victim to fall prey to the Baller's skills were the Wizards (5-4). Although the Wizards did their best, the combination of DJ Langston's intensity, Gary Barker's shooting, Thomas Foster's rebounding, and Kyra Kemp's shot-blocking was too much for them. While Steven Dean did work, the rest of the Wizards had off-nights. The Ballers ended up winning the game 11 to 4.
The second game matched up the Ballers (7-2) against the Thunder (5-4). the game was pretty rough because it was an "all boy and one girl" game. Ballers were the last ones standing, winning the game 10-6.
Period 4The Ball Don't LieTeam Polo (6-2) played the Celtics (4-4) for the 3rd time of the season on Monday. This match-up has proven to be a traditional showdown between the Celtics' Chris Butler and Polo's Saintario Mitchell. Today Mitchell came out on top willing his Team Polo to a victory.
At the start of the game, Mitchell said "Y'all know I'm taking out all my anger on y'all now". Mitchell expressed this strong sense of anger due to the one game suspension that he had to serve in game one. Why? Long story short, Santario couldn't pull his Pinochio routine on Coach Maley.
Bahati Kilmondo of the Celtics was a very agressive player today. It seemed as if she was playing rougher than the boys! As a female, I was VERY proud of Bahati's performance! Everytime she had the ball, I was on the sidelines screaming "GO BAHATI! YOU GO GIRL!", showing my fellow sister some love!
Chris Butler made sure to explain repeatedly how he had a leg injury and that's why they lost the game 6 to zip. Even though this was an unexpected blow out, it served noticed to the rest of the league that Team Polo is for real.
by Tyesha DigginsKimondo Shines AgainThe second game of the day had the Celtics (4-4) playing the Warriors (4-4) . It was a good game, although it started kind of slow, but before you knew it, both teams started making shots. The first shot was made by the team Celtics and then again making the score 2-0. The game then got serious, making three shots in a row, the Warriors caught up giving them a 3-2 lead. After that the game turned into a hack fest as it seemed as if every possession ended in a foul.
Momentum changed when Bahati Kimondo from the Celtics made an incredible swooping finger roll making the score 4-3. When announced that there were only 5 minutes left the game got very serious. In the end, my beloved Celts one 6 to 5.
by Brandylene MorrisMaley Minute: In other news, Javon Brooks became only the second player in the KPL to get a suspension reduced. Javon filed a formal letter of appeal to the League Commisioner's Office, requesting that the Commish reconsider.
Although Maley was not happy with reducing the suspension, he had to keep his word. The Commish could not be reached for further comment.
Fortunately for us, lead investigative journalist for the tabloid magazine "The Secret KPL" received an anonymous email with the exact letter of appeal that was sent to KPL headquarters by Brooks.
"I want to apologize to the board and all associated with the KPL for my behavior that took place 2 days ago. I could have avoided the whole situation if I would have kept my mouth closed. Also, I let down my team by not playing. In the future, I will no longer resort to such behavior. I have learned from my actions and request that the league review the severity of my suspension."
- Javon Brooks
5th Period
The Commish Impressed by Powell
After getting off to slow start in the first two days of KPL play, Team Unity's (2-6) Requean Powell has caught fire as of late. He has a D-Wade/Manu Ginobli-like way of splitting defenders and finishing at the rim over taller opponents. He has been lights out from 16 feet and in and has put himself among the elite scorers in the league. Even more impressive has been Powell's leadership ability. If he can lead the charge and get Unity back to .500, Powell may put himself in the mix for MVP consideration.
- Ghostwriter (Because 5th period reporters didn't meet deadlines)
7th Period
The Unnameds Split Two
The UNNAMEDs took sole possession of first place today, ending the day with a 5-2 record. First, they took down the Shut it downs, no bigee. The final score was a whopping 5-0 thanks to Ben with his trick block, a beautiful trick shot by Alicia "the Awesome" Peters, and Darren's pretty shot with Victor Francois right in his face. Sorry kid, no cigars.
The 5 star kings (4-3) stepped up to the plate next. I must say, they really brought the heat. Willy was notably too eager for words-or points for that matter and Wes seemed to foul in all directions. Greg Stepney however became the master of the rebounds.
Regulation ended in a tie and the game proceeded into overtime. After the the first few failed attempts by both teams, Demetrius "The Closer" Thomas put it in a running one-hander for a 6-5 finish. 5 star kings take all...and then some.
by Chavelle Blackburn
Jiles, Stepney, and Thomas lead Comback Kings
The 5 Star Kings (4-3) and the All Stars (4-3) went head-to-head once again today. This time, the 5 Star Kings took the gold. With a score of 9-0, you couldn't help but watch this dominating performance. Willie Jiles made 3 pointer after 3 pointer and even threw a few lay-ups as well. He had everybody in the gym on their feet. Gregory Stepney put forth an incredible defensive effort, rejecting everything put up close to the rim.
Even though the All Star's lost they played with a lot of energy and worked extremely hard on the defensive end. Jermari Boddy and Brittany French weren't playing any games. In the end the 5 Star Kings took the game by a score of 9-0.
Once again the 5 Star Kings (4-3) came hard and took the game by storm going against the Un-Named (5-2). I must admit, the Un-Nameds are a very good team with really good players. Ben taking the team in his hand had the Fanatics of the Anonymous in the crowd going crazy. The Un-Named had a big lead on the 5 Star Kings, but the comeback Kings made an instantly huge offensive surge towards the last 2 minutes of the game. Gregory Stepney,Willie Jiles, and Demetrius took the game over by playing great defense and making lay-ups. With 10 seconds on the clock the game was tied 5-5. When the buzzer went off and no one scoring, the game fittingly went into over time.
In the end the score came out to 6-5, 5 Star Kings, as Greg Stepney scored the game winner. In all my years of covering the game for the KPL, these were the best two games that I'd ever seen. I've never seen people put their all into something like these 3 teams did today. Hopefully we get the same energy tomorrow, but then again, you never know what to expect.
-Your Favorite Reporter,
Yasmine Treaseh
