A shorthanded Guidance squad was able to withstand a late charge from Legacy Friday night, in the Educational Complex gymnasium, defeating the youngsters, 88-74, on opening night for the New Breed Basketball Association (NBBA).
Legacy, turning to a full court press in the fourth quarter, created some turnovers and easy baskets and closed to within four points at 68-64 with 4:14 to go. But Guidance would respond with a late 20-10 outburst to close out the game and Legacy.
Guidance got off to a fast start in the opening period with a 6-0 run, but legacy counter-punched to take their only lead of the game at 12-11 with 2:36 left in the opening stanza. Guidance responded with another 6-0 run to close out the first period in front 17-12. Dennis Hospedales led the way for Guidance with seven first quarter points while Chris Floyd netted six for Legacy.
A 13-points explosion by Calbert White in the second quarter propelled Guidance to their biggest first half lead of 13 points at 34-21 with just under a minute to go, but Legacy was able to close out the half within 10 points at 35-25.
A three-pointer by Legacy’s Floyd started the second half, and the lead was quickly down to seven. But again Guidance pushed back. This time a balanced scoring attack saw them engineer an 11-2 run that propelled them to their largest lead of 16 points at 46-30.
Desperate to not let the game slip any further away, Legacy pressed defensively and came up with numerous turnovers which led to some easy baskets. They were able to outscore Guidance 20-15 the rest of the period to stay within striking distance, down just nine points at 61-50, heading into the fourth and final quarter. Legacy got three huge treys from Floyd in the third.
Legacy’s tight press continued to give Guidance trouble in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Offensively, Legacy opened the final period on a 6-0 run that saw them come as close as they had been, 61-56, since they enjoyed a one-point lead in the first quarter.
Seven Legacy players got into the scoring column as they frantically tried to stage a dramatic comeback.
In what by now was turning into a game of runs, Guidance responded with a 7-0 run to push the lead to 12 points at 68-56 with 5:48 left. But back came Legacy with an 8-0 string of their own and quickly they were down just four points at 68-64 with 4:15 to go — prompting a time out by Guidance Coach Donald Bough to try and settle his team.
When they returned to the court, Guidance responded with a 7-0 run for a 75-64 lead, and Legacy would not get closer than nine points the rest of the way. With the game slipping away down the stretch, Legacy tried fouling and sending Guidance to the charity stripe.. Unfortunately for them, Guidance was hitting their free throws.
Led by White and Hospedales, Guidance closed out the fourth period after the timeout on a 20-10, run for a final score of 88-74.
White led four Guidance players with a game-high 31 points, Hospedales netted 13, Lamar Bough dropped in 12 points with seven boards and five assists, and Jamal Hosier chipped in with 10 points.
For Legacy, Floyd netted a team-high 20 points that included five bombs from behind the arc, Bobby Evans dished out seven assists while scoring 17 points and Ricky Aaron finished with 18 points and game high 11 rebounds.
In the night’s other game Ujima blew out North Stars by 30 points at 90-60.
