Gators champs in community center adult basketball
No, not those Gators. But the island’s gators are on top of the basketball ranks.
Gator Man Pools rolled to a 59-47 victory over Duncan Real Estate Nov. 25 to win the Anna Maria Island Community Center Adult Basketball League fall championship.
Gator Man Pools held a 1-point lead after the first quarter behind 7 points from Brandon Osmond and 4 points from Dale Smith. Duncan received 8 points from Andrew Turman and 4 from Ray Gardner to stay within striking distance.
A 14-8 run by Gator in the second quarter — fueled by 7 points from Smith — extended the team’s lead to 28-21. But Duncan responded in the third quarter, outscoring Gator 17-13 to pull to within 3 points as the quarter came to an end. Gardner sparked the Duncan Real Estate comeback with 9 points in the quarter.
But Gator Man Pools squashed any hopes of another Duncan come-from-behind victory by outscoring them 15-9 in the final quarter to wrap up a 59-47 victory and the championship.
Aaron Dudukes had a strong all-around game to lead the Gator squad, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Osmond finished with 17 points. Smith added 15 points and five rebounds for the champs, which also received 5 points from Joe Combs and 2 points and 12 rebounds from Michael Scpondra in the victory.
Turman knocked down four 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 22 points to lead Duncan, which also received 18 points, five rebounds and five assists from Gardner. Jordan Demers was held to 5 points and Jon Moss had 2 points to complete the Duncan scoring.
Horseshoe news
Two teams emerged from pool play with 3-0 records and battled for the day’s bragging rights during action Nov. 26 at the Anna Maria horseshoe pits alongside city hall on Gulf Drive.
Bob Palmer walked his way to a 21-10 victory over Hank Huyghe and Jim Kleiner to earn the day’s championship.
Two teams also advanced to the knockout round during Nov. 29 action. John Crawford and Jim Kleiner rolled to a 21-8 victory over Tom Skoloda and Karl Thomas with Kleiner throwing a game-ending, double ringer that gave them bragging rights for the day.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by team selection.
Everyone is welcome to play.