Pirates end ‘learning’ basketball season 0-6

By Seth Hudson

The Pittsburg Pirates boys’ varsity basketball team finished out the 2013 District season 0-6, falling 60-31 against Pleasant Grove Friday night.
Dustin Thomas led the Hawks with 19 points, followed by Cory Menah who scored 11 and had a number of assists to Thomas. Dee Moton and Kel Wallace led the Pirates with 6 points each. The Hawks brought a deep bench to support their starting five and continually had fresh legs on the court. 
The Hawks jumped up early and scored 21 points in the first quarter to Pittsburg’s 6. Pleasant Grove dominated the court, keeping the ball moving offensively and preventing the Pirates from penetrating the perimeter, forcing many outside shots and recovering several rebounds defensively. By halftime, they were up 35-14.  
Returning to play in the second half, Pittsburg was unable to close the gap, and Pleasant Grove kept a steady rotation of substitutions to ward off fatigue and maintain momentum. Menah connected a couple of fast-break alley-oops to Thomas who brought Pleasant Grove fans to their feet with his exciting slam dunks.  
The Pirates succumbed to their final loss of the season averaging about 7 points a quarter to the Hawks’ 15.
Pittsburg played like a different ball team Feb. 1. They had Pirate fans on the edge of their seats with aggressive defense and a controlled offense when they faced Paris. Teammates were communicating and making a great effort to work together for the most part. However, Paris came out on top in the end, 59-53.
K.D. Moore led Paris in scoring with 14 points, and Wallace scored 23 points for the Pirates. Ty Hammonds, Teriyan Cuba, and Jermarques Walker had a number of great plays defensively that prevented Paris from getting too large a jump on the Pirates.  Hammonds, Wallace, and Moton were also successful grabbing rebounds both offensive and defensively.  The first quarter was most decisive for the ball game as Paris outscored Pittsburg 14-9. However, the Pirates were able to stay within a couple of baskets in subsequent quarters and outscored Paris in the fourth quarter by 2 points. Sir Charles Perkins and Walker shot a couple of three pointers along with Robert Hollins and Wallace who scored his long shot as the final buzzer sounded.
Only 5 points separated the Pirates and the Atlanta Rabbits on Jan. 25. The final score was 47-42.
Derrick Bell led Atlanta in scoring with 13 points, followed by Nick June who had 11.  Perkins led the Pirates with 14 points followed by Wallace with 9.
The Pirates began the game with more aggressive play than previous match-ups.  Hammonds and Wallace pulled down a number of both offensive and defensive rebounds and Pittsburg was able to capitalize on several occasions.  They had the lead after the first quarter and controlled the momentum of the game early on.  Atlanta began to catch up in the second quarter but the Pirates held on to the lead at the half 22-21.
Defense was the name of the game during the third quarter as the Pirates put up 8 more points and the Rabbits scored 11, taking the lead 32-30.  The Rabbits maintained the lead for the remainder of the game and finished on top 47-42.
This was a learning season for the Pirates. The experience gained by younger Pirate players including starting point guard Robert Hollins and sophomores Sir Charles Walker and Teryian Cuba will be invaluable to upcoming seasons. Pirate fans can look forward to a more experienced team next season and wish all the best to seniors Jermarques Walker, Kel Wallace, Dee Moton, and Ty Hammonds as they graduate this year.