Upper Darby, PA – The big matchup on Thursday between the Kings and Rip City was certainly exciting. But when push came to shove at the eight minute mark, the Kings, with only one man on the bench, pulled away and kept the winning streak going.
Kings 79 vs. Rip City 72
What a game to watch! An up and down game, plenty of lead changes and plenty of PGBL stars out there doing what they do best, playing Basketball. The Kings created some separation in the second half where they made a run to take a 10 point lead and they wouldn’t look back. What stood out is the balanced scoring by the Kings. Niki Veronis 19, Bill Zonios 18, Jim Kemmerer 18, Foti Giannopoulos 14. Everybody contributed and every player hustled their butt off, especially since the Kings only had 6 players once again! Veronis led with the assists, Kemmerer with tough play inside, Giannopoulos and Zonios switching roles offensively as Foti shot well from the outside and Zonios scored by getting to the rim. Next game against Ellas!
Rip City did not play a bad game, but there are some things they could’ve done better. Second half turnovers hurt them and opened the window for a Kings run. Offensively they made an effort to feed the big man Jim Armenakis and he delivered. Jim scored 22 points to lead all scorers, doing it from posting up in the paint and driving to the basket. Nicko Balis scored right on his average of 18 points including some big late game shots . Another bright spot was Rip City newcomer George Armentini, who played the point and scored 12 points. George played solid defense and even grabbed a couple offensive rebounds. If these guys clean up the late turnovers, they put themselves in a better position to win games like this. It doesn’t get any easier with Danny’s Boys coming up next.
Game ball: Kings balanced offense
Wolfpack 67 vs. Mavs 28
The Wolfpack dominated this game from the jump. They cruised to victory thanks to George Vlahos’ 20 points and just simply overpowering the Mavs in every aspect of the game. They even did something I’m not sure I’ve seen in the PGBL..a 5 man substitution. That’s either an indication that things are going really bad on the court or really well, of course for the Pack it was the latter. Bill Dosis had a good game for the Mavs with some swooping layups fading from the basket. Bill led the Mavs with 12 points. For the Wolfpack Nicko Papatsiaras scored 14 and Lou Sarris Grau scored 12.
Game Ball: Wolfpack bench, for keeping the momentum going
Revolution 59 vs. Ellas 32
After dropping a game due to forfeit last week, the Rev came back and got a much needed win. A dominating performance over Ellas brings them closer to the .500 mark Alex Pavlidis was very active tonight as he scores his season high 16 points. Alex plays one way, that’s hard. Pete Kada scored 12 points in limited action but the Rev didn’t need much more offense. Speaking of offense, George Pantzaris was the only source of offense for Ellas tonight with 19 points. George did it the only way he knows how, tough in the paint. Good job by the Rev taking care of business and they look forward to Dec. 11th against the Sixers!
Game ball: Alex Pavlidis