Third time's a charm for 436th APS as they cap unbeaten season with base championship

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William Johnson
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  If there were any naysayers to the phrase, "third time's a charm", than the 436th Aerial Port Squadron intramural basketball team silenced those critics of the saying with an overtime win against the combined 436th Force Support Squadron/512th Airlift Wing, winning the intramural basketball championship.

After coming up short and losing in the championship game the previous two years, the 436th APS defeated the 436th FSS/512th AW in overtime 82-73, March 1, 2016, at Dover AFB, Delaware.

Last year, the 512th AW were their own team and won the base championship against the 436th APS, after losing a number of players they merged with the 436th FSS team. David Kade, 436th APS coach, said he knew it was going to be a tough game since the new combined team had several championship players from last year's 512th AW team.

"We knew this was not going to be an easy game," said Kade. "We had to play these guys last year and we finished second so we wanted to come back this year and make sure we finished the job."

The 436th APS got off to a rocky start and quickly fell behind from red hot shooting of 3-pointers from the 436th FSS/512th AW. The 436th FSS/512th AW also played heavy defense on the 436th APS's best player, Kenny Roberts.

Antwan Piper, 436th FSS/512th AW player-coach, said guarding Roberts was imperative if they wanted any chance at winning.

"The thing about Kenny is that he is a great player and you can't allow him to play one-on-one and get comfortable shots," said Piper. "The first half we had him off-guard, we had him uncomfortably shooting and that really set the pace for us."

The 436th FSS/512th AW plan could not have worked out any better and they were able to hold Roberts to only nine points. They ended the first half with a comfortable lead over the 436th APS, 33-25.

Kade knew halftime adjustments needed to be made and they had to find a way to stop the 436th FSS/512th AW's three-point shots. He said they switched to a tighter man defense in an effort to control the three point shooters.

"They were hitting everything they shot," said Kade. "The problem was our big men were not putting a hand up quick enough on those guys and they were just hitting all their threes."

But the defense was not going to win the game alone for the 436th APS. Their all-star player, Roberts, had to put points on the board, and in true championship fashion, he entered beast mode and was completely unstoppable during the second half.

"I started to play more aggressively and I was taking everything they gave me," said Roberts. "I knew by doing that the defense would pay more attention to me and that would open up a lot more for my teammates."

Every form of defense they threw at Roberts had no effect. Before the final buzzer rang, Roberts had put up an astonishing 23 point in the second half, tying the game 63-63 and sending it to overtime.

Unfortunately for the 436th FSS/512th AW, Roberts was still in beast mode for overtime and easily put up another nine points. When it was all said and done, the 436th APS were crowned the champs, 82-73.

Reflecting on their season, Piper said his team had come a long way to make it to the championship game after having an embarrassing showing during the preseason tournament.

"We didn't win a single game in the preseason tournament," said Piper. "So to get here, we really worked hard and we fought some really hard battles. We showed that we are fighters and we fought to the end, it's the heart and soul of our team."

Having fallen short the previous two years, Roberts was short on words to describe how he felt being a champion.

"I really don't even know what to say right now," said Roberts. "All I can say is that it feels really good."

After finishing the season with a perfect 17-0 record, Kade said the championship validates all the hard work and effort put in by his players.

"These guys have a ton of heart and they came out and played with their heart every single game," said Kade. "We've been down a couple times this season and we were able to come right back out, they never got flustered, it's just been total team effort from the start."