Sports stats



Steelheads continue on the road

March 2, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Gary Steelheads News Release


After several days of rest, the Gary Steelheads resume their current road trip with back-to-back games Thursday and Friday night at Albany. The Steelheads hope to rebound from the first half of the trip, which saw their nine-game winning streak (the longest win streak in the CBA this season) come to an end, along with two overtime losses and a 1-3 record during the Western swing.

The Steelheads are statistically deadlocked in the battle for first place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have played 44 games, and both teams have accumulated 178.5 quarter points. Rockford pulled even with the Steelheads, courtesy of a 113-88 victory over the Michigan Mayhem at the MetroCentre Tuesday night. The Lightning claimed all seven available quarter points with the win.

Despite the challenging road trip, the Steelheads have won 10 of their last 13. Coach Jaren Jackson came within an eyelash of being named CBA Coach of the Month for February, losing out to Sioux Falls' Dave Joerger.

The Patroons are playing their best basketball of the season, building their current win streak to four (prior to last night's game) with an impressive 122-118 win at Rockford Sunday. They became only the third team this season to beat the Lightning on their home court. The Steelheads have done it three times.

This game will be broadcast to Northwest Indiana by WJOB in Hammond (1230khz) and WIMS in Michigan City (1420khz). Air time will be 6:00PM CST.

Fish Hooks

- Tonight's game is the 9th meeting between the Steelheads and the Patroons, and the Steelheads have a 6-2 lead in the series. This is the fourth meeting at the Washington Avenue Armory, with the Steelheads winning 2 of the previous 3 games there. The first meeting between these two teams on November 27th, 2005 made CBA history. Albany prevailed 102-101, as rookie guard Ronald Thompson scored 53 points for the winners. Not only does this performance rank as the top scoring performance in the league this year, but it also stands out as the top rookie individual game scoring performance in nearly 60 years of CBA basketball.

- The Steelheads' nine-game winning streak may be history, but Gary has still won 10 of their last 13 games. The nine-game streak was the longest streak in the league, eclipsing a pair of eight-game win streaks by the Lightning and the Yakama Sun Kings. Rockford also had a seven-game streak this season. Both of their streaks were broken by the Steelheads. The Sioux Falls Skyforce currently have a winning streak intact at eight games. They will host the Idaho Stampede at the Sioux Falls Arena Friday night.

- During the streak, the Steelheads defeated the Lightning four times in 11 days. Two of the wins were at the MetroCentre. Rockford has lost only 5 games on their home floor this year, with 3 of those losses being to Gary.

- The streak began on February 1st, as Gary achieved their first 7-point road win at Dakota, 113-97. At that time, Gary's quarter point average stood at 3.6. Rockford, sprinting at full speed with what would be an eight-game winning streak, weighed in at 4.5. Twenty-two days later, Gary improved to what was then the highest quarter point average in the CBA at 4.2. Rockford stood second in the league at 4.0. The last three wins in the streak came without the services of forward Randy Holcomb, MVP of the CBA All Star Game, who has been sidelined for 7 games with a groin injury.

- The Gary Steelheads achieved a franchise first on February 21st, when the ProBasketballNews.com web site elevated Gary to the top of its minor league basketball power ratings. In this week's poll, the Steelheads are ranked 3rd. Ironically, Steelheads' coach Jaren Jackson hasn't been mentioned among the site's "Best Pro Coaches Not in the NBA"...yet.

- Guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter has had two incredible scoring games on the current road trip, hitting for 44 at Rockford and 43 at Sioux Falls. He has now scored 1,213 points for the season and was the first player to crack 1,000 points in the CBA this year. With his 44-point performance against Rockford on Tuesday, Hunter now has two of the top five scoring performances in the CBA this year. He has scored 41 points or more on five different occasions, with three of them being against the Rockford Lightning at the MetroCentre in Rockford. His 50-point effort at Albany on January 6th ranks as the second best individual scoring effort in the CBA this season.

- "Snap" shattered Bryant Notree's single-season individual scoring record of 1,022 points (2002-03) in Rockford on Valentine's Day, February 14th. Hunter broke the record with his second field goal at the MetroCentre in a 120-111 victory. He finished the game with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. He was named CBA Player of the Week for the third time the following week.

- "Snap" Hunter leads the CBA in scoring with a 27.6 ppg. average. "Snap" ranks among the league leaders in assists (5.4 apg.), steals (1.9 spg.), free throw shooting (.864) three point shooting (.396) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg.).

- While guard Brian Chase leads the league in foul shooting, "Snap" Hunter has fashioned a foul-shooting string of his own. It began on February 7th, when Hunter went 6-for-6 at Rockford. The string extended through six games, with Hunter hitting 44 straight. Then, Hunter hit 10 straight against the Lightning before having his string end at 54 straight. "Snap" hit 17-of-19 foul shots for the evening. He then followed that with 7-for-7 at Sioux Falls, 2-for-2 at Yakama and 7-for-7 at Idaho . Over ten games, he has hit 77-of-79 foul shots (.974).

- Steelheads' coach Jaren Jackson believes "Snap" is ready for the NBA. "Snap has proven that he belongs in the NBA," said Jackson, an NBA veteran himself. "He has improved his defensive game to compliment his great scoring ability. Since the beginning of this season, he has shown that he is the best guard in the CBA. I am happy to have been a part of his improved play this season. I have been in awe of Snap's basketball skills since becoming his coach. I mention him in the same light as many of the top NBA guards I played against in my own NBA career. Any NBA team will be lucky to have him."

- On February 1st, 2006, the Steelheads traded forward Edmund Saunders to the Albany Patroons for All Star forward Carl Mitchell. The trade has worked out well for both teams. Mitchell is one of the more intriguing players in the CBA, possessing quickness, strength and shooting skill. He currently averages 14.1 ppg. and ranks 3rd in the CBA in rebounding at 8.8 rpg. Since joining the team on February 3rd, Mitchell has achieved five double-doubles and come within one digit of three others.

- Center Chris Alexander has 9 double-doubles this season. On February 21st at Rockford, he scored a CBA career high 19 points with 11 rebounds. He turned in two of his finest performances against the Michigan Mayhem February 16th and 17th. He tied his career high with 18 points and grabbed 20 rebounds on the 16th, while going for 10 points and 17 rebounds the following night. Since joining the Steelheads, Alexander has averaged 9.9 ppg. and 10.4 rebounds. He currently leads the CBA offensive rebounding at 3.9 rpg, ranks second in the CBA in overall rebounding at 9.3 rpg., and he is third in the league in blocked shots at 1.7 bpg.

- The Steelheads received a big lift as the second half of the CBA season began. Forward Randy Holcomb finished a ten-day call-up with the Chicago Bulls prior to the All Star Game. He flew to Boise for the mid-season classic and was named the game's MVP, the first player in Steelheads' history to earn an MVP award in the mid-season classic. Holcomb earned the honor, even though his Eastern team fell to the Western stars, 119-110. The 6-foot-8 forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a losing cause. The last player cut in the Chicago Bulls' training camp, Holcomb ranked 9th in the CBA in scoring (20.2 ppg.) and 7th in the league in rebounding (7.8 rpg.) when he was signed to a 10-day contract. He has seven double-doubles. Holcomb is currently sidelined with a groin injury and has missed the last seven games.

- Guard Brian Chase now ranks second in the CBA in three-point shooting with a .457 percentage. He is the league's leading free throw shooter at .920, having hit 80-of-87 on the year. His 32 point performance at Rockford February 7th was a career high. Chase hit 7-of-13 three pointers against the Lightning, including the game winner. He also handed out 9 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds. February 24th against the Yakama Sun Kings, the 5-foot-10 playmaker not only scored 16 points and handed out 6 assists, but he tied for the team lead in rebounding with 9.

- Guard Eric Chatfield paced Steelheads scorers against the Yakama Sun Kings February 24th with 23 points, while handing out 7 assists and grabbing 9 rebounds. He currently ranks 8th in the CBA in assists at 5.3 apg.

- The Steelheads' victory over the Lightning February 3rd marked the second time this year that Gary had broken a Lightning win streak. That win broke an 8-game streak, while the Steelheads' 118-102 win over the Lightning on December 30th ended a 7-game streak for the Bolts.

- The Steelheads named former Chicago Bulls forward Cliff Levingston to fill their vacant assistant coaching position on February 8th. Levingston played on the Chicago Bulls' first two championship teams and was a fan favorite. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1982 NBA Draft, going ninth in the first round. He retired from the game in 1995. In 2000, Levingston began his coaching career as an assistant coach in the CBA with the Ft. Wayne Fury. In 2001, he served as an assistant coach with the Dodge City Legend of the USBL. After a year as a college assistant at St. Francis, he returned to Dodge City as head coach. His Legend team won the USBL title, and Levingston was named USBL Coach of the Year. During 2003-04, Levingston served as an assistant for the Harlem Globe Trotters. Last season, he coached the St. Louis Flight of the ABA.

- Former Steelheads' assistant coach Kelvin Upshaw has taken an assistant coaching position with the Harlem Globetrotters.

• Discuss this story on the Continental Basketball Association 1 message board...

Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from March 2, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Gary Steelheads Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central