AFMES headed to playoffs

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ashlin Federick
  • Armed Forces Medical Examiner System
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System intramural basketball team is headed to the playoffs after defeating the Flyers in overtime 47-43, March 20, 2017, at the Fitness Center here.

AFMES has come a long way from only winning one game last season to having a 9-4 record this season.

The AFMES team was confident going in but knew it was still going to be a challenge to take the win.
After a rough start AFMES finished the first half leading 17-13.

Lorenzo Andreaggi, AFMES player-coach, said adjustments needed to be made if they were going to pull a win.

“Hopefully we can play better defense the second half and get some calls in our favor,” said Andreaggi. “They do not really have an inside game so we have to play higher defense, guard the three a little better and box out on the rebounds. We need to feed Frankie the ball down low because they do not have a big man at all so they can’t really guard him down there.”

There were a lot of fouls called in the first half, which started off to a sluggish start. The team came together in the second with aggressive defense and a lot of hustling.

Emmanuel Garcia, AFMES guard, said it was a tough game and they were fighting for third.

“The first half was a little bit tight,” said Garcia. “We were still trying to find the best way to attack them. The second half we came up with a strategy using our big man, which worked out, and we kept fighting to the end.”

There was a lot of back and forth on the court. The second half was a close-call ending 39-39 sending the game into overtime.

Michael O’Rourke, AFMES forward, said this was the second time they had played this team and won so the Flyers really wanted to beat them.

“We were both tired but we dug a little bit deeper than them and had a little bit left in the tank,” said O’Rourke. “I think the first half we were definitely sluggish and we did not get out to a good start. I think in the second half we let them hang around a little too long. I thought we were going to put them away a little bit earlier than that and I did not expect it to go into overtime. Thankfully we took care of it with just three extra minutes.”

The final swish of the ball dropping through the net announced the AFMES team’s place in the playoffs scheduled for March 23, 2017. Only time will tell how far they will go.

“We have a great bunch of guys,” said Frankie Francois, AFMES center. “We have a bunch of people from different divisions but we still come together for the same goal. This game meant something to us because it meant we gained a spot for playoffs and everyone contributed.”