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Steelheads continue trek

February 25, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Gary Steelheads News Release


Following an impressive road win over the Yakama Sun Kings Friday night, the Gary Steelheads invade Boise, Idaho to meet the Idaho Stampede at the Qwest Arena Saturday night. The Steelheads seek to move back to ten games over .500, the high water mark for the franchise this season.

Going into tonight's game, the Steelheads have the highest quarter point average in the CBA at 4.10. They have won 98.5 quarters of basketball this year, best in the league.

The team's current road trip began with consecutive overtime losses Tuesday at Rockford (123-100) and Wednesday at Sioux Falls (128-122). The Rockford loss ended Gary's nine-game winning streak, longest in the CBA this season. But the Steelheads turned it around at the Yakima Valley Sun Dome last night, defeating the Sun Kings 128-122 in a matchup of CBA conference leaders.

The Steelheads started slowly, surrendering the first quarter point of the game 29-24. But when Yakama connected on just 6-of-25 shots in the second quarter, Gary seized the momentum for a 26-16 quarter win and a 50-45 lead at half. The Steelheads won the third quarter 36-25, taking an 86-70 lead into the final quarter. The Sun Kings tried to rally, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Yakama won the final quarter 22-16.

The Steelheads placed six players in double figures, paced by guard Eric Chatfield who came within one rebound of a double-double with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter added 17 points, guard Brian Chase 16, forward Carl Mitchell 15, forward Marlowe Currie 14 and forward Renaldo Major 10. Gary had four players with 9 rebounds apiece (Chatfield, Chase, Mitchell and Major).

The Steelheads won with just eight available players. Starting center Chris Alexander sat out a one-game CBA suspension for an "unsportsmanlike act" at Sioux Falls Wednesday night. He will be available for the Idaho game Saturday night. Forward Randy Holcomb, MVP of the CBA All Star Game played at the Qwest Arena, missed his sixth straight game with a groin injury.

Playing with a smaller front line, Gary was outrebounded 68-53. But Gary executed the pick-and-roll effectively and scored 4 more field goals, despite taking 11 fewer shots. The Steelheads shot .432 from the field on the evening, while holding the Sun Kings to just .343 on their home floor. Gary committed just 10 turnovers in the victory.

Fish Hooks

- Tonight's game is the 19th CBA meeting between the Steelheads and the Idaho Stampede. Gary retains a 10-8 series lead. This year, the Stampede have won two of the three games played to date. Idaho won the first two meetings, 106-97 at the Genesis Center on December 13th and 117-93 at the Qwest Center on December 20th. The Steelheads broke through to win the third meeting at the Genesis Center, 100-97.

- The Steelheads' nine-game winning streak may be history, but Gary's win over Yakama last night gives Gary 10 wins in their last 12 games. The only two losses were back-to-back road games at Rockford and Sioux Falls, both going to overtime. 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.

- 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 4 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.

- 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. With his 17 points last night against Yakama, "Snap" has tossed in 104 points for the week. He has now scored 1,196 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 ranks as the second best individual scoring effort in the CBA this season.

- "Snap" scored 101 points in 3 games two weeks ago, which placed him just 4 points away from breaking Bryant Notree's single-season individual scoring record of 1,022 points (2002-03). Hunter then broke the record with his second field goal at Rockford a week ago Tuesday night. 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 last week.

- "Snap" Hunter leads the CBA in scoring with a 27.8 ppg. average. "Snap" ranks among the league leaders in assists (5.4 apg.), steals (1.9 spg.), free throw shooting (.862) three point shooting (.404) 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 last night 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, and added 2-for-2 at Yakama. Over nine games, he has hit 70-of-72 foul shots (.972).

- 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. 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 4th in the CBA in rebounding at 8.6 rpg. During the season he has ranked among the leading three point shooters in the league, currently hitting at a .400 clip. Mitchell also shoots .506 from the field and .782 from the foul line. Against the Lightning two weeks ago Saturday night, Mitchell picked up his first double-double in a Steelheads' uniform with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Three days later, he added another double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Lightning in Rockford. He hit 10-of-11 shots from the field. He hit the Lightning with another double-double last Tuesday night, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. After two near misses, he added another double-double at Sioux falls with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

- Center Chris Alexander sat out last night's game due to a CBA suspension. He is available for tonight's game. Alexander has 9 double-doubles this season. Tuesday night 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 a week ago Thursday and Friday night. He tied his career high with 18 points and grabbed 20 rebounds Thursday, while going for 10 points and 17 rebounds the following night. Since joining the Steelheads, Alexander has averaged 9.9 ppg. and 10.7 rebounds. He currently leads the CBA offensive rebounding at 3.9 rpg, ranks second in the CBA in overall rebounding at 9.5 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 six games.

- Guard Brian Chase now ranks third in the CBA in three-point shooting with a .463 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 two weeks ago Tuesday was a career high. Chase hit 7-of-13 three pointers against the Lightning, including the game winner. Last night 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 with 23 points, while handing out 7 assists and grabbing 9 rebounds. He currently ranks 7th in the CBA in assists at 5.4 apg. His three games last week were excellent examples of his ability to adjust his game as conditions merit. Last Tuesday he hit some early shots to get the Steelheads going at Rockford, finishing with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Against Michigan Thursday, he handed out 8 more assists while scoring 11 points. In the rematch Friday, Chatfield scored 14 points with 7 assists.

- 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. 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.

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