Battle of the Dragons

The last time Maggie Walker had a basketball win like this, we were back at TJ. Or the Middle Ages.

63-33 – read it and weep, Maggie Walker haters. The big three – Parker Kirwan (’10), Dan Laws (’11), and Paul Eiker (’09) – combined for a mere 42 of the team’s 63 points, as compared to their scoring in previous games, where they scored all (or all but two of) the points.

That was the biggest difference on Wednesday. Indeed, my fellow Dragons – the bench stepped it up, so take a stand Tommy Davies (’11), Will Van Winkle (’10), Brian Loftis (‘10), and Woody Kaine (’10).

“We had a solid team performance,” team co-captain Eiker said. “Parker and I didn’t need to score as much, and of course, we couldn’t have done it without the fans.”

Green Machine showed up at full force, proving they are indeed the greatest machine of all. With over 80 fans cheering and yelling, the atmosphere was like no other.

“People we haven’t seen before were at this game,” Kameron Adams (’09) said. “I think the fans fed off the players’ spirit – it made us cheer even more. We crossed the grade barrier and came together as one MLWGS family.”

Defense also a played a big part in the win. Eiker had at least five steals, leading to numerous breakaways. Laws also did his part, intercepting a pass, running it up the court, and using a spin move to leave his defenders in the dust, leading to an uncontested lay-up.

“It was the best we’ve ever played defensively. We were aggressive, got steals, and we were just concentrating,” Kirwan said. “It felt really good to beat our rivals like that in front of the whole crowd.”

Offensive rebounding was off the charts, particularly with the starters – Jerry Fiala (’10) stepped it up, reaching double figures. Even the smallest player on the court, Davies, picked one up.

Davies also drained two three-pointers, back-to-back, energizing the crowd like no other. A missed wide open breakaway lay-up and several airballs (including one on a free throw) from Appomattox didn’t hurt either.

Now, if they could just play like this against John Marshall today, maybe we would only lose by 20.But there is something to look forward to: “I’m going to jam it on them,” Fiala said.