Steelheads In Sioux Falls Tonight
February 22, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Gary Steelheads News Release
Gary Steelheads vs. Sioux Falls Skyforce Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 The Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota Gary Steelheads Game #42 CBA Game # 162 The Gary Steelheads travel to Sioux Falls to meet the defending CBA champion Sioux Falls Skyforce at the Sioux Falls Arena Wednesday night. The game comes on the heels of Gary's first loss in February, 123-120 in overtime at Rockford Tuesday night. The game also was Gary's first OT loss this year, having won their four previous overtime games.
The Steelheads had defeated the Lightning four straight times prior to this meeting, but it was clear from the start that the Lightning would not by discouraged by those recent failures. The Steelheads won the first quarter 27-25, but the Lightning bounced back outscoring the Steelheads 33-25 and taking a 58-52 lead to the locker room at half. The two teams played to a third quarter stalemate of 29 apiece, giving the Steelheads a six-point deficit going into the final quarter. They made up the deficit 28-22, forcing the overtime. But an old nemesis, Lightning guard Ronnie Fields, hit a shot and was fouled with six seconds left in the overtime to break a 120-120 tie. Fields hit the foul shot, and when "Snap" Hunter missed on a three pointer, Rockford ended a streak of their own...a four-game losing streak. Gary picked up 2½ quarter points in the defeat.
The Steelheads were paced by Hunter, who tossed in 44 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a losing cause. Hunter's effort ranks as the fourth highest scoring effort in the CBA this year and is the third time he has scored 41 points or better at Rockford this season. Hunter's incredible free throw streak, which extended over seven games, ended at 54 straight. He hit 17-of-19 from the line.
Forward Carl Mitchell tossed in 19 points with 7 rebounds for the Steelheads, with guard Brian Chase contributing 15 and center Chris Alexander contributing a double-double with a CBA career high 19 points and 11 rebounds.
--Get Hooked!-- Fish Hooks
- Tonight's game is the 34th CBA meeting between the Steelheads and the Skyforce, and the fourth and final regular season meeting in the league's 60th Anniversary Season. Sioux Falls has a 20-13 lead in the series. The defending CBA champs have won two of the three previous meetings, including an incredible come-from-behind 106-100 win at the Genesis Center on January 28th. Trailing by 21 going into the final quarter, the Skyforce scored 50 points in the fourth quarter to pull out an impressive win. The Skyforce also defeated the Steelheads in the only Sioux Falls Arena meeting on January 13th, winning 109-104. The Steelheads won the first meeting between the two teams at the Genesis Center on December 23rd, defeating Sioux Falls 85-77. At the time, the 77 points scored by the Skyforce that night was the lowest point total scored in the league. It is now the second lowest point total. Last year, the Skyforce won 3 of the 4 meetings between the two teams. - A nine-game winning streak for the Steelheads is now history, following Rockford's overtime win over against Gary last night. 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 the highest quarter point average in the CBA at 4.2. Rockford stood second in the league at 4.0. - The Skyforce now have the top winning streak in the CBA, currently standing at four games, including back-to-back wins over the Dakota Wizards at the Sioux Falls Arena last Thursday and Friday. - Guard Jimmie "Snap" Hunter has scored 1,136 points for the season, the first player to crack 1,000 points in the CBA this year. Albany's rookie guard T.J. Thompson has joined "Snap" with 1,015 points. Rockford's Roger Powell stands third at 878 points. - With last night's 44-point performance against Rockford, "Snap" now has two of the top five scoring performances in the CBA this year. He has scored 41 points or more on four 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 27.7 ppg. average. "Snap" ranks among the league leaders in assists (5.5 apg.), steals (2.0 spg.), free throw shooting (.858) three point shooting (.407) 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. - 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. He missed another double-double by a single digit with 20 points and 9 rebounds against the Michigan Mayhem last Thursday night. He then missed another double-double in the rematch last Friday night, with 13 points and 9 rebounds. - Center Chris Alexander leads the Steelheads with 9 double-doubles this season. Last 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 last 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 11.0 rebounds. He currently leads the CBA offensive rebounding at 4.0 rpg, ranks second in the CBA in overall rebounding at 9.6 rpg., and he is third in the league in blocked shots at 1.8 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. His seven double-doubles is second on the team lead. Holcomb is currently sidelined with a groin injury and has missed the last four games. - Guard Brian Chase now ranks second in the CBA in three-point shooting with a .469 percentage. He is the league's leading free throw shooter at .928, having hit 77-of-83 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 Lighning, including the game winner. - Guard Eric Chatfield continues an outstanding season. He currently ranks 5th 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. Friday, in the rematch with the Mayhem, Chatfield scored 14 points with 7 assists. Against the Lightning last night, he scored 11 points with 5 assists. - The Steelheads' victory over the Lightning last Friday night marks the second time this year that Gary has broken a Lightning win streak. Friday night's 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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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from February 22, 2006
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