Fish House lose two straight, Playaz win three straight

BY MIKE PEDEN

Spread the word: the 2010 Howard Pulley/June Miller Pro City League championship is officially wide open as the El-Amin Fish House dropped their second straight game in Tuesday night's nightcap.

123Print.com took advantage of outscoring the Fish House 45-17 in the first quarter to win 114-95 at the St. Paul Salvation Army gym. Long Beach State's Jake Thomas scored a game-high 29 points for the Fish House while Marshall Brown led 123Print.com with 26.

After a monstrous first where everything was falling for 123Print.com (3-0), the team cooled off for the rest of the game, partly due to the offensive rebounding advantage for the Fish House (1-2).

Those second chances allowed the Fish House to cut the margin to eight midway through the third, but whenever the Fish House appeared to get momentum for their usual late-game surge, 123Print.com's players would score key baskets to neutralize any attempt.

Carlos Emery was one of those key players, putting on a show from the paint that was capitalized by a 360 alley-oop from Cameron Rundles. Rundles and Wofford teammate Jamar Diggs had a solid night on their own, putting up 22 and 21 points respectively.

By game's end, the Fish House were beaten into submission as former Minnesota Mr. Basketball Royce White took off his jersey in disgust, walking to the bench with other players before the final buzzer sounded.

The game was the first of two for the Fish House without Khalid El-Amin, who will not return to the lineup until July 8th.

The preceding game between June Miller Time and Errol Carlstrom Playaz came down to one lone run that decided the contest early. The Playaz jumped to a quick start and scored a 13-0 run, which virtually made the difference in their 84-68 win over the organization's 17U AAU team.

Like the nightcap, the game's high scorer came from the losing team, with Hopkins' Marvin Singleton recording 23 points. Embattled Gopher Trevor Mbakwe led the Playaz with 21.

After the Playaz 13-0 run, the two teams essentially traded baskets for the rest of the game as the Playaz would hover around a 15-17 lead throughout.

Miller Time was also without key players, including Hopkins star and league sensation Joe Coleman.

The Gopher recruits take the floor again tonight with the Pat Madison Magic facing off with 123Print.com at 8:45 p.m. The Playaz also return to battle Information Investors Group at 7:00 p.m.