Long wait for title over for LRS

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Ryan DeCamp
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The 56th Logistics Readiness Squadron's first team stood in position to do something June 30 they failed to do in the last two intramural basketball finals: win a championship. 

They finally got their title beating the 56th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron 53-48 in game two of the intramural final. 

The LRS1's three playoff wins put them in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament meaning they only needed to win one of two possible games. 

"This is the best thing that's happened since I've been here," said Patrick Paul, LRS1 team captain. "It's been a lot of work and we had ten great players who contributed all year. I'm just so glad to get it over with." 

The AMXS almost forced LRS to wait another year winning game one 57-54. They were up by as many as 12 points and the closest LRS could get was within two with just under two minutes left. 

"I had to do some re-evaluating of myself as a player and a coach," Paul said. "We switched to a zone defense in game two and forced them to shoot more from the outside. We were getting beat on the boards which is not our style." 

The team needed to pick up their intensity too, Paul added. 

"I was a little more timid in game one, looking for my teammates," he said. "I didn't want to be selfish but I could score at will. I wanted to be more aggressive in game two and I told D.J. Hamilton to be more aggressive also," Paul said. "That opened up Orlando Mesa and Jesse Cruz, our three-point specialist. 

It worked. LRS held a six-point lead with 16 minutes left in the game. 

Then adversity struck. 

Paul took an elbow and a knee to his forehead with 11 minutes left and sat out until the bleeding stopped. LRS turned the ball over on their next four possessions and did not score for the next five minutes. 

The AMXS tied it up by the nine-minute mark. 

Paul got stitches after the game but taped up the cut and returned with two minutes left. LRS regrouped and took another lead thanks to Hamilton sinking seven out of eight free throws. 

With 20 seconds left, LRS held a three-point lead and had two free throw attempts. As LRS walked to the other end of the court, Paul smiled. 

"I finally saw the light," Paul said. "It was right here and I finally got a chance to walk into it. I think this is probably the best team I've played on all my life where it was straight team chemistry, no individuals, everyone had the same goal all year." 

For LRS, Paul scored 12 points in each game and DJ Hamilton scored 23 in game two including three, three-pointers. Mesa also knocked down five three point shots in game one. 

"It shows the depth of our team from the starters to our bench," Paul said. "Everybody contributed all year. Hamilton and I, Lamar Valentina, Cruz and Orlando Mesa hitting big 3s in the clutch and Steve Szymanski rebounding. It's been a whole team effort."