On Air
Senior Charity Allstar Classic 2009 -- RECAP
LAUGHS AND FLASH HIGHLIGHT
CHARITY ALLSTAR GAME
By James Staley
1017theteam.com
(posted March 31, 2009)
Even though he was on the bench at the tip of the Senior Charity Allstar Classic on Tuesday night, Chad Adams got an early start with the trash talk.
"Take it back!" shouted the former Highland basketball standout.
Adams' playful jab was directed at Jordan Howard, who had just been whistled for offensive basket interference, negating a put-back dunk.
For the past four years, Adams and Howard were teammates at Highland. But for the Senior Charity Allstar Classic at the Santa Ana Star Center, the two were rivals.
Adams' team, the Warriors, defeated the Blizzards, Howard's team, 89-85, but the result hardly seemed meaningful. The tone of the inaugural event was apparent as Adams delivered his early raz to Howard. Adams certainly wasn't alone.
Because many teammates were split on the rosters, several players lobbed jokes and innocent taunts at other players. Game officials were more blithe than usual, working in one-liners about players and assembled media (one referee targeted The Team's Mike Roberts throughout the boys game). And the public address announcer prompted a tongue-in-cheek applause from the crowd when the officials were tardy in their return from the locker room at halftime.
Everybody was having a good time.
And it was all for a good cause.
During a halftime ceremony Senior Charity Allstar Classic officials presented a ceremonial check to UNM Children's Hospital for the amount of $5,869. KQTM-FM President Joe O'Neill said he expects the final total donation to be close to $6,150.
That money came from a variety of sources; players, metro area coaches and sponsors. It was stretched thanks to the generosity of several others. The Santa Ana Star Center didn't charge to host the event and game officials volunteered their whistles (for a look at the birth of the Senior Charity Allstar Classic, click here).
Like Adams, fellow all-star Calvin Farmer, a St. Pius X senior, played with and against former teammates at the game. Ryan Myers was on the Warriors with Farmer and Josh Lujan was on the Blizzards, against them.
"It was fun," Farmer said. "We hadn't played against each other since middle school."
In a game full of accomplished players Adams seemed to stand out. It started during warmups, when Adams made a small political statement by sporting a t-shirt with a picture of President Barack Obama, and ended with a two-handed dunk in the game's final seconds.
That long awaited jam, for which the crowd had been begging, capped a 20-point night for Adams. He led all scorers and displayed many of the skills that landed him a scholarship at UNM. During one sequence Adams scored, blocked a shot at the other end, corralled the ball and made a long pass for an assist.
Howard led the Blizzards with 18 points.
Other double-digit scorers for the Warriors were Manzano's Ryan Gesiakowski (16 points), Highland's Eric Watson (14) and La Cueva's Wes Enns (11).
After Howard the Blizzards were led by Belen's Daniel Hessinger (12 points). Highland guard Marcus Franco and Los Lunas' Spenser Waquie each added 10.
As Adams left the floor and strolled toward the locker room, he couldn't help but smile.
"It was fun," he said. "Playing against your teammates is more fun. We were talking stuff all day about who was going to win. Now I'm about to go talk more stuff."
The girls all-star game wasn't as eventful until late in the second half.
Despite their ice cream parlor-inspired nickname (Dairy Queen was a sponsor), the Blizzards were hot from the field for most of the game. They rolled out to a 22-point lead before the Warriors scored their third field goal of the second half.
"We didn't shoot to well today, but it was still fun," said La Cueva senior Nikki Ingram. "We were all just joking around on the bench like, 'Coach can we go in?' They said, 'The first five to stand up.' I was the first one up so I was like, 'I'm just going to shoot some 3s.' That's what I was good at I guess."
The relaxed Warriors made a huge run -- it helped that Ingram scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the second half -- and had a chance to tie the once-lopsided game in the final seconds. But instead the Warriors turned the ball over to the Blizzards, who eventually won, 61-58.
Alix Membreno led the Blizzards with 11 points. She and Ingram were the only players to reach double figures.
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The Team's Mike Roberts accepts a plaque commemorating KQTM-FM's sponsorship of The Senior Charity Allstar Classic on Tuesday night at the Santa Ana Star Center. Former Lobos and NFL receiver Preston Dennard looks on.
BOX SCORES
Boys
Warriors 38 51 -- 89
Blizzards 41 44 -- 85
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Warriors: Pat Holmes 2, Chad Adams 20, Eric Watson 14, Jo Moquino 9, Joe Zamora 4, Ryan Myers 4, Ryan Gesiakowski 16, Lawrence Armijo 5, Wes Enns 11, Calvin Farmer 4
Blizzards: Jordan Burd 3, Marcus Franco 10, Jordan Howard 18, Mark Tenorio 9, Josh Lujan 8, Tyler McDonald 2, Daniel Hessinger 12, Connor Pierce 2, Spenser Waquie 10, Jorel Johnson 7, Chris Garand 4
Girls
Blizzards 38 23 -- 61
Warriors 23 35 -- 58
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Blizzards: Tracy Fosterling 9, Andrea Lopez 4, Casey Stambaugh 3, Kristin Valencia 7, Megan Muniz 8, Micala Medina 5, Alix Membreno 11, Jordan Unversagt 3, Miriam Rathner 2, Caitlin Boal 9
Warriors: Nikki Ingram 17, Andrea Torgrimson 8, Cierra Jones 6, Brooke Serrano 2, Megan Bass 2, Brittany McIntosh 1, Jordan McGee 4, Whitney Polosky 6, Britteny Brown 2, Latisha Adams 6, Taylor Tvede 2, Andi Buckel 2
