by Written by Teddy McQueen
Your Women’s A.B.A. team (Blaze) are 5-1 after holding off their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steel City Queens (2-5) in a close match that went down to the final seconds of the game. In the 3rd matchup between these two teams, the Cleveland Blaze are firmly 3-0.
The 1st quarter for these 2 sides is just as important as the 4th. Coach “Bo” and his Blaze started on offense spreading the floor and finding open teammates for open shots. (G) Tasha Duncan for the Blaze limped to the sidelines early but would return later to put her impact on the game.
Cleveland pressured the ball as soon as it passed half-court which seemed to disturb the offense of Coach Ace Pippen and his Steel City Queens. (F) Amber Bogard (Blaze) established her size differential early on both sides of the floor and was key in Cleveland’s rebounding throughout the match.
The quarter was closed by (G) Jalin Steel as she went coast to coast with 6 seconds left and the defense of the Queens watching for an easy layup. Blaze up (22-11)
The Blaze kept the pressure up in the second, even though it was clear that the extra energy and effort was starting to wear on them. (G) Sabrina McKlin, Queens leading scorer, found herself at the end of a few wide open shots and with assistance from (F) Montana Moore, kept the game close.
Back and forth sloppy play and the signs of bad transitional defense by Cleveland helped also.
Once again, the quarter was closed by voted All-Star (G) Jalin Steel as she received the ball off a tip and was able to put a shot up and in with 1.6 seconds left to close the half, Blaze up by 4 (43-39).
There are always half-time adjustments, speeches, and an overall analysis of what needs to be done. Yet, Coach Bo never seems to get too animated with his team and instead of lengthy conversations, he resorts back to their assignments and moreso accountability.
Not so much “What they’re doing” but more of “What we’re NOT doing”. The 3rd quarter was a degree of the latter.
The Blaze were not getting back on defense, we’re not getting good shots on offense and continued to allow backdoor cuts and easy layups from (F) Montana Moore. The Blaze, whom had the lead all game, let it get within three points (55-52).
Tasha Duncan was able to return and chose to ignore her injured leg and let loose with her hot hand, knocking down two 3’s and helping extend the lead to (62-58) at the end of the third quarter.
The 4th quarter, the Blaze flashed full-court press, which aided in the Steel City Queens being off balance and uncomfortable. However, there is always a dramatic finish with the women from these 2 organizations.
With 5 minutes left on the clock, the Blaze held a 9 point lead (75-66). Waking up from the 1st half, Montana Moore continued to cause havoc on the offensive glass for Pittsburgh and from her hard work, she got easy layups and put-backs. (2:53) remaining and the lead is 81-74 (Blaze).
A very well designed play by Coach Bo out of a timeout led to an easy bucket and a 9 point lead. With 2 minutes left, McKlin, once again left wide open, hits a three pointer 83-80 (Blaze).
The bonus (fouls) allowed Mcklin to go to the line and narrow the gap (83-82). The Blaze found themselves with33 seconds left and the ball, 33 seconds left to “Do It For Amanda”, 33 seconds to improve to 5-1.
The ball is inbounded to (G) Tasha Duncan and with a quick jab-step, she is at the hoop with the layup (85-82). (F) London Tolbert was able to get a turnover and then drop a dime to Bogard for the last and final layup for the Blaze (87-82). They did it for Amanda!!!!.
The players, fans, and supporters of the Cleveland Blaze and their Bully Awareness campaign ask that you keep Coach Bo as well as Amber Bogard and their family in your prayers and thoughts as they are going thru a traumatic time right now.
Amanda Bogard, daughter and sister, suffered a heart attack, in which Coach himself had to perform life-saving C.P.R. The Cleveland Blaze move to (5-1) and to 3rd place in their respective regional standings.
Two more games are left out of their scheduled 8 game season. A road trip to none other than Pittsburgh on Friday October 4th and their last and final home game, here at Hawken Middle School, Saturday October 5th at 4:30pm. The Cleveland Blaze is an organization of family, community, and teamwork committed to lifting Bully Awareness…yesbullyfree.org#iambullyfree
