2015 FBA Season/14.12.27/TXS@HNT/Capsule
After stumbling of late, the Huntsville Mayors have stabilized again and threaten to chain together another domineering collection of wins the way they did at the start of the season. But the Texas Lone Stars did their part to challenge the #1 team in the league when they sprung ahead of City Hall in the second quarter, walking into halftime with a 10 point lead. Fueled by crisp sharp shooting from both Mitchell Redding (Rabbit, G) and Marcus Knight (River Otter, G), the Texas inside defense managed to lock up Hassan Kamal (Camel, C/F) and Baltasár Torrealba y Toboso (Aldabra Giant Tortoise, C/F), who struggled in the paint.
That forced a third quarter rally from the Huntsville back court as Steven Standard (Stoat, G) suddenly lit up the Lone Stars and got the crowd on their feet with a crushing 4 triples in a row, forcing an angry time out from head coach Walter Billcheck. A double-teaming of Bad Juju slowed down the white-furred ermine, but didn't stop him. His fifth long shot of the night was fouled by Redding, giving Standard a four-point play. With the Lone Stars rapidly losing their lead, rookies Ahti Nereus (White Sturgeon, C) and Wesley Lachs (Sockeye Salmon, F) teamed up for an inspiring late 3rd quarter drive, rebounding 13 balls between the two of them. But Telki Holland (Chinchilla, G) shocked the away team with back-to-back threes to open the fourth quarter, coupled with a highlight reel blind assist from Wendy Brown (Saber-toothed Tiger, G) to boyfriend D’Angelo MacQuilkin (Lion, G) who completed the alley-oop crusher over Timur Tomilin (Mammoth, C).
With the score neck-and-neck, the last minutes of play showed ferocious intensity, especially when Travis Buckner (Grey Koala, F) collided with Baltasár Torrealba y Toboso (Aldabra Giant Tortoise, C/F) in a devastating blind side pick in the high post. The collision was so fierce, play was stopped after the koala struck his head on the floor and was unable to return to play. Mitchell Redding (Rabbit, G) led the charge in the final seconds of play, dishing a killer assist to veteran Petr Sek (Red Fox, G) in the final seconds for the Dog from Prague's only made long shot of the night. The bucket tied up the score with the shot clock turned off, putting the risk of overtime on a match that already had seen over 200 points scored, but it was not to be when the Mayors brilliantly threatened Texas with Steven Standard (Stoat, G) running along the arc, zipping back and forth, black-tipped tail taunting the defense. A quick pass to Wendy Brown (Saber-toothed Tiger, G) at the shoulder was followed with a baseline pass inside to a wide open D’Angelo MacQuilkin (Lion, G) under the hoop, freed up by the double-team on the ermine. The kiss off the glass gave the go-ahead bucket with only 0.3 seconds to spare, giving Huntsville another victory and Steven Standard (Stoat, G) his 9th Player of the Game honor.
--Donald Smith