Van Nuys, LA–

The XvsX Men’s Gold League was active in week two of the 2022 season through a competitive three game series last Sunday. In game one, the UK Fighters defeated the SoCal Playaz for a final score of 135-129. Valley Outcast snuck away with a four point victory over the Compton Dinosaurs for a 112-108 win in game two. In game three, the Knights beat NYC Gold 100-95.

Statistical Leaders:

Marcel Burton of the UK Fighters went for a league high 60 points to carry the team in a hard earned victory. He shot an efficient 62 percent from the field consisting 20 made field goals, hit 13 three pointers, and a perfect 7 for 7 from the stripe.

Ryan Carter AKA Hezi God from the SoCal Playaz was the leagues second leading scorer with 49 points. He went 18 of 30 from the field, with 7 made threes.

Valley Outcasts’ Elvin Rodriguez led his team with a double double of 45 points 12 rebounds along with six assists and four steals. He shot 55 percent from the field, totaling 16 field goals made.

Mel Holden posted 36 points for the SoCal Playaz with 11 rebounds and 14 field goals made.

Van Girard from NYC Gold led all players in rebounds as he finished with a double double 23 rebounds topped with 24 points.

Game Recaps:

Game 1: UK Fighters 135 vs. SoCal Playaz 129

After several lead exchanges at the start of the first quarter, the Fighters embarked a 12-0 run, which consisted a pair of putbacks, consecutive threes from Marcel Burton and Famous Los, topped with a layup in transition from Michael Fry. Mel Holden responded with back buckets to deflate the Fighters scoring run. With the Fighters up 67-42 in the second quarter, Darius Allen generated a 9-0 run for the Playaz which was maintained by Mel Holden with two trips to the line. Consecutive scoring runs from the Playaz bridged a 25 point deficipt into a 13 point game to conclude the second quarter. By half time, Marcel Burton tallied 37 points for the Fighters while Mel Holden closed the half with 27 points.

With a 70-57 Fighters lead into the second half, the Playaz dominated the glass on the defensive end, which generated their offense through scoring in transition. The Playaz out numbered the Fighters on the glass defensively in the third quarter, as they compiled 12 defensive team rebounds in the third quarter alone in comparison to seven defensive team

rebounds for the Fighters. Nonetheless, the Fighters had the advantage on the glass offensively, totalling eight o-boards, with 11 second chance points in the quarter. Hezi God went off for 19 points in the quarter to bring the Playaz to a 10 point deficit going into the fourth quarter (100-90).

AJ Basco from the Playaz went on a quick 4-0 run at the start of the fourth. A few possessions later, Hezi God sparked a 5-0 run to cut the Fighters lead down to three (102-99). Marcel Burton, Cam Jack, and Famous Los started to play off of eachother in response to the Playaz fourth quarter vengeance. With five minutes left, the Fighters were up 120-110. A two on two was carried out between Marcel Burton/ Michael Fry versus Hezi God/ Darius Allen. Through the 2 on 2 duration, the Fighters duo scored nine points collectively while the Playaz duo compiled 23 points, and brought the score to 129-123.With less than two minutes remaining, Hezi God scored back to back layups in transition for a two point deficit. Marcel Burton put the team on his back and nailed a four pointer to to extend the lead up six to secure a 135-129 UK Fighters victory.

Game 2- Valley Outcast 112 vs. Compton Dinosaurz 108

After several lead exchanges and a two point differentiation within the final seconds of the game, Valley Outcast pulled away with a 112-108 victory. The three headed snake of Elvin Rodriguez, Allex Austin, and Kenny Barnes each posted double-doubles with 100 points combined amongst the three. For the Dinosaurz, all players scored in double digits led by Rome Flynn with 20 points, four assists, and three steals. Zach Andrews posted a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Outcast threw the first punch for an early 13-3 run. Ammar Rehman got hot from beyond the arch, sinking back to back threes and a bucket in transition to spark momentum for the Dinosaurz. The Outcast let up on an early 10 point lead for a two point advantage going into the second quarter (29-27). A two on two broke out between the Outcast duo of Elvin Rodriguez/Kenny Barnes, later joined by Zay Wilson versus the Dinosaurz duo of Rome Flynn/Zach Andrews. Rome Flynn and Zay Wilson competed to exchange several buckets in two on two play. Flynn started the two on two off with a trip to the line for a 46-43 Dinosaurz lead. Zay Wilson from Outcast subbed in and immediately snatched a steal, then caught a dunk to bring a tie at 49. Flynn responded with a step back jumper to take the lead, until Wilson hit a layup in the following possession to carry out another tie. The Outcast won the two on two battle 10-6 which placed them at a four point advantage to close the first half.

In the second half, Elvin Rodriguez had the hot hand for Outcast with 25 points in the third quarter alone. He scored 16 straight points through a five minute duration which included two four pointers. Rome Flynn disrupted Rodriguez’ momentum, as he hit back to back threes. After a pair of layups from Barnes, Flynn scored an and one to turn a double digit deficit into a 7 point game. Rodriguez handed the torch onto Allex Austin as he led the Outcast in the fourth quarter with 11 points. Joel Brokenbrough came alive for the Dinosaurz at the start of the quarter with a dunk, then dimed off Ammar Rehman in the following possession. Barnes also caught a dunk off a put back to extend a nine point Outcast lead. Rehman and Andrews put the Dinosaurz on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to down to four (103-99). Austin caught a dunk in attempt to put the Dinosaurz away, however it was not long until Rome Flynn hit a momentum shifting three followed by a bucket from Brokenbrough to trail the Outcast by two (110-108) in under a minute left of play. With less than 20 seconds left of the ball game, Rodriguez sunk two freethrows and secured a 112-108 Outcast victory.

Game 3- Knights 100 vs. NYC Gold 95

The Knights took a 100-95 victory in a hard fought game against the NYC Gold. Kwah Gredric AKA ‘Lethal’ led all players with 27 points, eight boards, with 12 field goals made. AJ Harris posted a double-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and a team high five assists. CJ also went for a double double and led the Knights in rebounds with 21 points, 11 boards, and credited with a block. For NYC Gold, the entire starting five finished in double digit scoring led by Chris Staples with 26 points, and shot 11 of 21 from field. Van Girard AKA ‘All-Phase’ posted a double double of 21 points and 19 rebounds. Bhudda Boyd had an all around game with 15 points, seven rebounds, and dished out a league high eight assists. Ant Henderson AKA ‘Hendawg’ chipped in with 19 points while Damian Young AKA ‘Prodigy’ contributed 13 points and six boards.

Ant Henderson posed threat to the Knights as he hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter alone. Bhudda Boyd became a floor general and dished out three assists through the quarter to activate rhythmic offense for the NYC Gold. The Gold struggled to contain CJ who generated 10 points in the first quarter with two threes, a dunk and a transition bucket. The Knights trailed by 4 to close out the quarter (28-24).

A two on two was played at the start of the second quarter featuring the Knights duo of Lethal and Joshua Johnson AKA Mr. Telephone Man versus the NYC Gold’s duo of All-Phase and Prodigy. The two on two was tied 6-6 to advance a 34-32 NYC Gold lead. Bhudda Boyd and Chris Staples generated a six point run which was let up by consistent attacks to the rim from Lethal. Chris Staples responded with a pair of buckets both off of Bhudda Boyd’s assists for a 51-46 advantage to close the half.

AJ Harris became dominant in the second half with 24 points respectively. He opened the third quarter scoring a quick layup before Chris Staples hit an and one for a 5-0 Gold run. In retaliation, Hendawg scored a transition bucket to initiate a 5-0 Knights run and trail the Gold by three. After four straight trips to the line by AJ in a one on one against Prodigy, the Knights went scoreless while the NYC Gold obtained their first double digit lead of the game (71-61).

The Knights attempted to inch their way back into the game one possession at a time. Dashawn Gomez hit a momentum shifting three off of an assist from AJ in the mid fourth quarter. NYC Gold called a three on three with a score of 75-73. NYC Gold got hot from

beyond the arch, starting with a three from Hendawg, topped with back to back threes from Chris Staples. With five minutes left of play with NYC Gold leading 83-81, a one on one was called between All-Phase and AJ Harris. Harris went on an 8-2 run to bring the Knights up 89-85. Tim Johnson AKA ‘Bugatti’ later on nailed a three for a seven point lead. Chris Staples caught a dunk off of an assist from Bhudda Boyd in attempt to spark a run. A few possessions later, Staples hit a four pointer to trail the Knights by five with under a minute left of play. The Knights ended up closing the game with a 100-95 victory.

Words from Chris Staples: The best team is usually the team that shows up… On paper I feel we have the best all around team, but we are still gelling and by the end of the season it’s going to show….We are super athletic…the one on ones are the biggest part of the game because points go really fast and could be a quick lead change, especially if we are up; we have to really use the entire clock.

Words from Bhudda Boyd: We are still trying to get chemistry…It’s just a matter of time until we start figuring out how to play together and where certain people are in certain spots…we have already been talking on the court, so as long as communication is going I am confident that we will have it figured out by the time playoffs come.

League Standings:

The defending champions ‘Australian Knights’ remain undefeated and the Valley Outcast are at 1-1. NYC Gold drops to 1-1, and the Compton Dinosaurz are 0-2.

Up Next: Week three tip off will begin on Sunday, 12:30 at the Mid- Valley YMCA. Games will be live-streamed on Youtube. Stay tuned for post game interviews, statistics and recaps on winorloseshow.com