Fresh Princes Outlast French Lick Legends, 43-37

Greenville, N.C. - After a battle with laziness the creator and dominator of this blog found time in his schedule to post the game story from last week. I've been almost as busy as A-Rod making naive decisions on GNC products - oh wait they don't have syringes at GNC - yep gotta drop the A-fraud bomb in a post, lets be serious. I find it hilarious that more and more Yankees are getting caught in the issue of steroids - you can't even cheat and buy a championship!

Anyway to the game story -

In an emotional effort, the French Lick Legends suffered their first loss of the season to the hands of the Princes of Freshness, 43-37, on Thursday evening at the ECU Rec Center in M13 division action.

The defense of French Lick (1-1) continued to play with tenacity only allowing 43 points and forcing 17 Fresh Prince (1-1) turnovers, but the offense struggled...mightily. The shooting of French Lick was disappointing at best, making just 24.2 percent (15-of-62) of its shots and only connecting on 4-of-24 3-point attempts.

The bright spots for the Legends came from freshman Ian McLeod and sophomore Joseph Jordan. McLeod tallied his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan scored nine points and totaled 10 rebounds for French Lick.

Steven Bateese and Garrison Cherry each chipped in with five points apiece, while Matt Warnick dished out a team-high four assists in the loss.

The Legends trailed at halftime, 23-20, but where unable to close the gap in the second stanza. McLeod led the offense with eight points at intermission.

In the second half, the French Lick defense caused 10 turnovers, but that could not mask the 1-for-16 shooting from downtown by the Legends. French Lick was not downtown LeRoy Brown by any means.

Trailing 40-34 in the final minute, Cherry fired a deep 3-pointer from the right wing, which was blocked. The freshman guard grabbed the rebound and passed the McLeod who sank a trey from the right corner with 23 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, the Fresh Princes were able to make 3-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to earn the victory.

The Legends will look to avenge the loss on Thursday evening at 9 p.m.

Game Notes

Team shot 15-of-62 from the field...Fresh Princes shot 16-for-48 on field goal attempts...FLL's made just 3-of-8 foul shot attempts...Fresh Princes made 6-of-12 from the charity stripe...two players grabbed double digit rebounds (McLeod & Jordan)...FLLs committed just eight turnovers to 17 by FPs...Coach Holliday is now 8-8 in his career as an intramural head coach.

No. 21 Legends Host Fresh Princes Thursday Night

Game Two Preview

Fresh Princes (0-1) vs. No. 21 French Lick Legends (1-0)

Greenville, N.C. - The No. 21-ranked French Lick Legends host the Fresh Princes in a Division M13 match up on Thursday evening at 10 p.m. on the SRC Court #2 inside the East Carolina Rec Center.

The Legends are coming off a 43-30 season opening victory over Team G2 last Thursday. The win tied the Legends with as many regular season Dub-Yas as the team accumulated during the 2008 campaign. The possibility of a let down lurks as the Fresh Princes dropped their first game, 65-44 to Hey What Court Are We On?. Head Coach Kyle Holliday and on the court leader Brett Hickman will need the squad to be firing on all cylinders to keep the undefeated season in tact.

"I don't think champions are ever satisfied," said senior Brett Hickman. "Champions always search for a little bit more. Every year is a new season and you have to play game by game and not look at the big picture."

French Lick started off shooting fromt the field as Matt Millen did selecting first round draft picks for the Detroit Lions - horrible besides Calvin Johnson...from...obviously he was a G-Tech Yellow Jacket.

"We need to start off better and score early on," said Holliday. "We started off slow, but luckily we were able to make a run towards the end of the first half."

The Legends utilized an impressive 16-4 run to close out the first half and put the game out of reach for Team G2 to earn the win.

The Legends will start a three guard offense, hoping to attack the Fresh Princes' defense off the dribble. All five starters have the ability to make shots from behind the arc, which should open up the middle for a Princeton-like-offense including screens and back cuts.

Holliday has inserted Matt Warnick into the starting lineup to handle most of point guard duties. The sophomore played with great poise off the bench scoring five points and distributing four assists.

Both wing spots will be held by senior Brett Hickman and freshman Garrison Cherry. Hickman had a stand out season opener, pouring in a team-high 12 points along with dishing four assists. Look for Cherry to break out in game two and be more involved in the offense in his second career intramural game.

Robert Tant and Ian McLeod will man the post positions. Both players have excellent inside-out games and should contribute even more on the offensive and defensive sides of the basketball against the Fresh Princes. Sophomore Joseph Jordan will be in the mix to spell time for McLeod and Tant. The forward-center came off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds in the season opener.

If the Legends can play with defensive tenacidy, like similar to the effort put forth against Team G2, then French Lick will pick up its second win of the season.


Prediction
French Lick 48 - Fresh Princes 43

French Lick Legends Projected Starters

G Matt Warnick - makes first start of the season
G Garrison Cherry - local product of J.H. Rose HS
G Brett Hickman - leading scorer averages 12ppg
F Robert Tant - team leader in afro look-a-like
C Ian McLeod - tallied a half double-double 5 pts/5 rebounds
-------------------------------------
G Stephen Battese - scored five points off the bench
G Ben Anderson - Ben Wallace type player - floor burn dominator
F Stephen Moore - Hickory, NC native - i dont know this guy
F Chad Staradumsky - feels the nastness of being a champion (see Tom Trojan article)
C Joseph Jordan - top scorer off bench (8 points, 5 rebounds)
G/F/C/Coach Kyle Holliday - scored two points last game without playing
Asst. Coach/Mr Fact Ben Warnick - believes that the final play in the Super Bowl was a forward pass by Kurt Warner and that the Cardinals should have been given one more play.

Game Notes
- No. 21 ranking is the highest mark during a spring semester under Holliday.
- Top ranked defense in the M13 Division, opponents avg. 30ppg.
- With a second victory will surpass regular season win total from 2008.
- Start four underclassman and one senior.

Former SBHS Star finally on a Championship caliber team

By: Tommy Trojan

It is an often common fate for some of sports greatest athletes. Barry Sanders and Gary Payton immediately come to mind when talking about sports heroes who have been struck by the bad luck of playing for porous franchises. Chad Staradumsky’s athletic career seemed to be on that same path.

Nestled in the middle of scenic Brunswick County, North Carolina is Staradumsky’s hometown of Winnabow. Call it bad luck, but the Staradumsky family resided in the South Brunswick school district. For all intensive purposes, South Brunswick High School was “athletic hell”. To make matters worse, twenty five miles south on Highway 17 was “heaven”.

The South Brunswick-West Brunswick rivalry is the Carolina-State of Southeastern North Carolina. Like the Wolfpack, the Cougars have had their moments (1989 State Baseball Champions). But destiny has not been a friend of the navy and columbia blue. Its color of preference has been Green and Gold.

West Brunswick has dominated the athletic landscape in Brunswick County for two decades. A cradle of some of North Carolina’s best high school coaches and players, the Trojans were the program of the decade in football during the 1990’s and have since became a baseball juggernaut under legendary coach Mike Alderson. If Shallotte (home of WBHS) is the “mecca” then Boiling Springs Lakes is merely a Canadian province.

Metaphorically, Staradumsky has finally left Canada and landed in French Lick. Now a junior at East Carolina, the former flame throwing reliever from the Cougar baseball team is now a contributing forward for the 8^th ranked French Lick Legends of the ECU Intramural Basketball League.

“It feels good to be a part of a winner.” said Staradumsky. “We were always good but not great. To be a part of a top ten program means so much to me.”

The FLL’s currently possess a 1-0 record after a dominating performance against G2 Thursday night in the ECU Rec Center. Staradumsky started at the Small Forward spot while former West Brunswick athlete Brett Hickman anchored down the point guard spot. Hickman insists that despite the rivalry in high school, he and Staradumsky are friends and there are no hostilities between the two.

“Chad is a good friend of mine. In spite of what people think, WBHS people don’t hate SBHS people. It is hard to dislike someone you beat with such regularity.”

Hickman went on to explain why he believes the Trojans have denied the Cougars success on the gridiron, hardwood, and diamond.

“The problem with South Brunswick High School athletics is that the school and community places too much emphasis on academics , hanging out in beautiful Southport, and visiting Oak Island. Conversely, the citizens of greater Shallotte love their football, basketball, and baseball and care very little about the ‘student’ in ‘student-athlete‘. I think South has transitioned more into that mindset the last few years. Consequently, they have started to beat us because people in our community started caring about kids grades and that other garbage.”

Staradumsky pointed out that South Brunswick did beat the Trojans during Hickman’s senior year in baseball to open the ‘04 campaign. He was also quick to note that the Cougars went on to capture an Easter Tournament Championship on Trojan field during their run to the state playoffs. However, as Hickman was quick to point out, the Trojans responded by beating down the Cougars in the next performance and finished the season with a championship a little bigger than the Beach Diamond Invitational. The ‘04 Trojans went on to win the North Carolina 3A State Championship.

The past behind them, Hickman and Staradumsky should each play integral roles for the FLL’s in what is destined to be the teams best season in history. For Staradumsky it is one last shot at being great. For Hickman, its high school all over again.

Legends Lock Down Defense Leads to Victory, 43-30

Greenville, N.C. - The French Lick Legends used a 16-3 run to close out the first half and held on to secure the win against G2, 43-30, in the season opener at the East Carolina Recreation Center in intramural action on Thursday night.

The Legends struggled from the floor in the early minutes and fell behind G2, 8-4, with 15 minutes left in the half.

"We started off slow early on and you could tell we didn't really start to play as a team until the middle part of the first half," said third year head coach Kyle Holliday.

"Any time you don't play a lot together, it takes a while to gel as a cohesive unit," said senior Brett Hickman. "I think the key to the game was when Holliday switched our defense from a zone to man-to-man"

At 13:30 mark, sophomore Matt Warnick drained a 3-pointer from the right wing, followed by a jumper from Stephen Bateese to take the first lead of the game since the contest's opening minute, 9-8. After Ian McLeod made 1-of-2 free throws, senior Ben Anderson collided with a G2 player and was able to tip the ball to Joseph Jordan for a lay up and force the opponent into a timeout with eight minutes left in the half.

Jordan sank a 3-pointer in the closing minute of the first stanza to give French Lick a commanding 20-11 lead heading into the locker room.

G2 shot just 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from the field in the first half and could not connect from beyond the arc on six attempts.

The second half belonged to Coach Hickman as he scored 10 of his team-high 12 points after halftime. After Garrison Cherry drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Hickman knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to give French Lick a 12-point advantage, 31-19.

"Any time you put the bread in the basket you gotta think about how you got the bread in the first place," said Hickman. "I think it is imperative to note that every basket that I made was a product of a great pass from a teammate. The selflessness of Warnick and Tant exudes what French Lick Legends basketball is all about."

McLeod and Hickman went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to secure the win for the Legends, 43-30.

An intramural first occurred in the final minute of the game when a technical foul was called on a G2 player for vulgar language. The new ECU Intramural rules committee issued a new rule stating "on a technical foul the opposing team will be automatically awarded two points; no foul shots will be attempted." The 2-point basket was awarded to player-coach Kyle Holliday even though he did not play a single minute in the contest. It marks the first time ever recorded at East Carolina that a player scored a basket without playing in the game.

Hickman led the Legends with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from hail mary land. He added four assists and two steals.

Sophomore Joesph Jordan added eight points and six rebounds off the bench in the Dub-ya.

Battise, McLeod and Warnick all chipped in with five points a piece, while Robert Tant added four points. Warnick dished out four assists and collected two steals. McLeod and Tant each grabbed five boards.

The Legends will hold an open practice on Saturday, January 31 - the eve of Kurt Warner's domination - at the ECU Recreation Center at 11 a.m. All spectators and competitors are welcomed.

The next game for the hicks from French Lick is on Thursday, February 5 at 10 p.m.

GAME NOTES:
Kyle Holliday collected his eighth career victory ... "Doc" know owns an 8-7 record as intramural basketball head coach ... The Legends outscored the G2 20-11 in the first half and 23-19 in the second half ... Jordan, McLeod and Tant all collected at least five rebounds ... five players scored five points or more ... Cherry, Hickman, Chad Staradumsky, Tant and McLeod started ... team tallied 20 points off the bench ... French Lick shot 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) on two-point attempts ... 6-for-15 (40 percent) on 3-point attempts ... 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from the foul line ... each team committed 11 turnovers ... Holliday is the first intramural player ever in the history of the world to score two points without stepping foot on the court ... Ben Anderson collected a team-high three floor burns ... Tant missed a wide open lay up by being rejected by the rim at the end of the game .

French Lick Legends Battle G2 in Season Opener

The French Lick Legends begin their 2009 season's quest to earn the ever elusive ECU Intramural Championship tonight against division foe G2 at the ECU Rec Center at 9 p.m.

Season Preview
Head Coach Kyle "Doc" Holliday enters his third season at the helm of the Campus Crusade for Christ intramural hoops squad. The team name has varied during the past seasons as well has the success of the program. The 2008 squad struggled on the hardwood, posting a 1-4 regular season record. The lone win was awarded when the opposition collected to many techincal fouls over the course of the game. The Campus Crusade Baller(z) were able to capture a playoff victory, before being eliminated from the tournament.

The squad put together an impressive showing during the summer league season. The CCB(z) tripled their win total during the summer schedule - 3-1 overall - and collected two more victories to advance to the championship contest. Unfortunately they lost in the championship game, however the success provides high expectations for the 2009 campaign.

Returners
The former CCB(z) - now the Frenh Lick Legends - return four players from last season's team in Holliday, Ben Anderson, Stephen Battise and Matt Warnick.

Holliday, who will serve as player-coach, returns as a versatile forward who can provide great leadership on and off the court. The red-shirt senior has four seasons of intramural experience and understands the mindset it takes to win at this level. In two seasons as head coach, Holliday has posted an overall record of 7-7, but his coaching skills are far beyond his .500 winning percentage.

Anderson will provide energy - and lots of it - and should be a defensive nemis for the team. The senior guard will easily provide the most team spirit off the bench, as he is known for wearing his golden tuxedo at ECU home football games.

Known for his frisbee dominance, senior Stephen Battise returns as a guard for Holliday this season. An overall excellent athlete, Battise partakes in intramural soccer and is a mainstay on the club frisbee squad here at ECU. He should see plenty of action at the shooting guard position.

Sophomore Matt Warnick enters his second season as a point guard for the FLLs. Warnick provides quickness, excellence ball control and full-court defense to the team. A much improved shooter from a year ago, Warnick should look to contribute more offensively this season.

Newcomers
Eight new players join the FLLs and provide excellent depth with 12 players listed on the roster.

Upperclassmen Brett "Coach" Hickman, Chad Staradumsky and Tyler Epperley provide Holliday with great versatility. Hickman, a student-assistant for the ECU football squad will see minutes at either guard position. The senior is excellent at reading opposing defenses on the football field, will need those skills to dish out the basketball this upcoming season. He can also nail some hail marys from 3-point land.

Juniors Chad Staradumsky and Tyler Epperly each will play at the small and power forward positions. Stardumsky distributes pills to the elderly at CVS when he is not on the court and he will utilize his pill distributing skills to rack up assists. Epperley is the son of ECU assistant coach Mr. Epperley.

Underclassmen include sophomores Joseph Jordan and Robert Tant and freshman Garrison Cherry, Ian McLeod and Will Lane.

A 6'4 transfer from Mount Olive College, Jordan should provide depth to a very deep front court. Tant, who also stands 6'4, will see time at power forward and has the ability to make shots from beyond the arc. He also has massive hair.

Cherry, McLeod and Lane will all see minutes for the FLLs this season.

A 12-man roster provides Coach Holliday the depth and experience needed to make a run at an intramural championship this season.

Season Prediction
Regular Season Record: 3-2
Advance to Intramural Semifinals

2009 Roster

Name - Class - Height - High School - Hometown

1. Ben Anderson - Sr. - 5'10 - Rockingham County HS - Reidsville, NC
2. Stephen Battise - Sr. - 5'10 - S. View HS - Fayetteville, NC
   
3. Garrison Cherry - Fr. - 5'8 - J.H. Rose HS - Greenville, NC
4. Brett Hickman - Sr. - 5'10 - W. Brunswick HS - Ocean Isle Beach, NC
5. Kyle Holliday - RS-Sr. - 5'11 - Jamesville HS - Jamesville, NC
   
6. Joseph Jordan - So. - 6'4 - S.Central HS - Winterville, NC
7. Ian McLeod - Fr. - 6'4 - St. Stephens HS - Hickory, NC
8. Stephen Moore - Fr. - 6'2 - St. Stephens HS - Hickory, NC
   
9. Chad Staradumsky - Jr. - 6'1 - S. Brunswick HS - Winnabow, NC
10. Robert Tant - So. - 6'4 - Orange Senior HS - Efland, NC
11. Matt Warnick - So. 5'5 - Frontier Regional HS - S. Deerfield, MA

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Head Coach: Kyle Holliday (ECU '07, '09)
Asst. Coach/Mr. Fact: Ben Warnick (Colby-Sawyer '07)