Slaughter Neck Basketball League at The Cage
Basketball players from high school to old school play each Monday and Wednesday night in the summer from June 22 through July 15 at the Slaughter Neck Community Center off Slaughter Neck Road.
“We call the court The Cage,” said organizer Haywood Burton. “There are three games each night at 5, 6 and 7. We have officials, a score clock and a PA system.”
Slaughter Neck Community Action Inc. was founded in 1967 as a nonprofit organization. “Daycare by light and disco by night” was the way it was back in the ’70s when the Cape school bus picked up and later dropped off 10s of track athletes.
The recap and flavor of each night’s games is posted on Facebook by Burton in the language of the outdoor courts. Burton is the Earl Monroe of sports reporters.
Here is Burton’s June 29 report:
Game one was another barn-burner. Brian Polk found himself locked in with some young guns who were fast and feisty. Chancellor Johnson is blur and he can make some things happen. He slashed and dashed his way to a SNBL career high 12 points and dished out five dimes. The thing is though, this mid will defend. Make no mistake about it, he relishes the opportunity to guard someone of great stature. Young boy a name taker, and he takin’ names. He ain't alone either. Big Nate Sivels is ballin’. Some call him tiny, but I can't. The kid play too big. He has the heart of a lion and he showed that tonight as he kept attacking the lane en route to a team-high 13 points. Oh, he like defense too. He had four deflections and two steals. Nate looks a lil slimmer and he is playing with an attitude. This was a very good team effort by the Running Rebels. They had several players score double-digits, with Cam Daniels hitting for 11 points and big man E. Wilkins scored nine points.
The Running Rebels found themselves within two when Allen Sivels hit a clutch baseline jump shot to tie the ball game. When he went up, I saw flashbacks of his pop in ’94. Yea, that family got game. Brian Polk and John Glover were very much game, and with P in the middle, they pounded the paint. Polk scored a team-high 16 points while John dropped a smooth 13 points. Listen, the barber is hoopin’. This is his second double-digit performance, and this one came in clutch. When P grabbed that board and put it on the deck to start the break then hit somebody with a lil spin move, I knew pride was on the line and they were going for it. P dropped a SNBL career high 11 points today and grabbed seven boards.
The rebels found themselves down three, 55-58 with 20 secs left. With a missed shot, a loose rebound produced a panic as both squads dove and hurdled to get that rock. Somehow Cam Daniels managed to survive the scrum and found himself with the ball in hand and three tics on the clock. As he rose for three, the whistle sounded and the shot hit the left rim. The ref raised his closed fist and called a shooting foul as time expired. The crowd is bananas while others are in disbelief. Cam is at the line down three shooting three with the game on the line. Cam calmly walks to the line and swish 56-58. I mean he was smooth and confident. He ain't even hesitate. I’m digging his "want it." I have seen cats not want it. They run from the moment ultimately folding like laundry but not Cam. He wanted it. He took the second shot like the first calm and smooth only to see it rim out and the hopes of an upset gone astray. Then something happened. Cam was about to walk off the court, head hung low on defeat but a Ol' head yelled out "Na, young boy shoot that third one too." Cam calmly went back to line as he did previously and he knocked it down. It was a teaching moment. Things ain't go your way today, and it works like that sometimes, but you must get back up, finish it and leave with your head up. I have no doubts if Cam finds himself in this moment again he will own it.
I like these young guys. They play hard!
Game two was a battle, and I must say I did not see this happening, as the Running Rebels defeated a heavily favored The Capital 59-50. The Capital found themselves short-handed, but boy did they fight. That law firm, Tillman, Mullen and Associates was bout it. They were five deep and said, "you know what? It is what it is, we just gonna bang it out." Juwan Mullen got them going early. He was attacking, wheeling and dealing. He put a couple cats in the spin cycle with no wrinkles en route to a 14-point, four-rebound night. He was in the paint heavy, and he had his partner with him. Chuck Davis was a flamethrower. That ninja thought he was in the Vietnam jungle. He was sniping everything (yup, everything). When he hit the first one, somebody said uh-oh and I overheard the commissioner say, "if he hit this next one, be ready because he is going to talk that yay-yay" lol. And guess what? He hit the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Boy hit four straight en route to a league-high 25 points, and he was wired for sound as he screamed "get out that zone." He would go on to knock down a league-high seven three-pointers. After he hit the fifth one, he had the commissioner screaming “get out that zone." He was on on tonight. Man, he had to be bumping Jay Z Reasonable Doubt on the ride south because he was "Feelin’ It."
Them youngs were hungry though and they smelled blood in the water. They ran, ran and ran some more with nine of 10 players reaching the scoring column. They showed no fear as they attacked from all angles. J-Roc had it going early, as he raced out to an early 5-0 run hitting a lay up and trey ball. Then Rell started cookin’. He hit a layup, then he hit a trey ball, then he hit a pull up. Man, he had it working, and before you know it, we had a ball game. There was zero fear factor. Rell motored his way to a calm 13 points. Hitting a clutch trey ball down the stretch. J-Roc was his normal confident self. Nothing ruffles this cat. He could go 0-for-30 and shoot 31 like he 31-for-31. He a next play type guy, and I like that mindset. J-Roc poured in a team-high 17 points, hitting three trey balls and grabbed four boards. He had a few manly buckets today with the crowd yelling "and one ref." If this kid decides to attack that paint on a consistent basis, teams are going to be in trouble. Tonight these young boys felt as though they had something to prove. They wanted to belong, and today they played like they belonged. They also had a big fella in the middle. He grabbed nine boards and blocked five shots. He was a problem. The energy in this game was different. They went at it. There was a sequence where J-Roc hit a trey ball, then Rell hit a trey ball, then Tilz hit a trey ball, then Jawon Sivels hit a trey, and he starts talkin to Tilz, then Tilz comes down and he hit a trey ball, and now he talking to Jawon and still yelling "get out that zone." Then J-Roc hit another trey and he talking to the crowd lol. Man, I started to duck for cover because these cats were raining down trey balls left and right.
Man, that was fun to watch. Those boys were jazzed up and it was love. It was the playground at her finest. I can't really explain it. All I can say is, just ain't nothing like it.
Game 3 got out of hand early. Dodge City only had four players and they faced the juggernaut Justice League. That's just not good, but I tell you what, those boys ain't quit. They gave the fans plenty to cheer about. Dajon Emory just makes you love the game. He plays hard, man, and he has fun. The D1 football player scored nine points and grabbed five boards. Amontae would be the brighter light for Dodge City. He poured in a team-high 17 points. He was hitting from everywhere. He would go on to hit three triples in the game. I think he is finding his spot. If Dodge City can ever get to full strength, they could be a tough out. I mean, has anyone seen Mt. Dew?
Justice League is a problem, y’all. This team is deep. LT poured in a game-high 21 points, hitting six triples. If his jump shot is falling, all I can do is wish you good luck. Milford Middle head coach TT Hazzard is quietly pilling up some numbers. He had another double-digit night, as he scored 16 points connecting on two long-range bombs. He too is quite the showman as he dances and plays the guitar after every dagger he hits. Recent Cape graduate Kris Rushin played very well scoring 16 points and Colin Moore found his stroke as he scored 17 points. He hit three trey balls. This team is deep. In the absence of Jaron Dukes Hazzard, Randy Rickards and Ant Mosely, this team still scored 85 points. They remain the only unbeaten team in the league, and the question is being asked, can they be defeated?
