Friday, November 1, 2013

The HHR Fare Well in Round Robin Tournament

Heading into the Round Robin Tournament of the fall league, the Highlight Reels sat at a .500 record going 3-3 during the regular season. The team really seemed to turn the corner however over the past two weeks, posting two wins against teams they lost to previously in the season. A 68-47 win over M-Town in game one of the round robin was lead by Brandon Hunter, who may have had his best game of the shortened fall season. The middle Hunter shot 58% from the floor (11/19) and hit on all three of his free throws for 28 points, pacing the HHR. Hunter had his best shooting season from two point range this year, shooting over 60% (63%) on the year. His previous best was the 41% shooting from two point range back in 2011-12 for the Mailmen. One area he also improved over the past two games was his three point shooting. Going six of fifteen over the last two contests (40%), pushed his season percentage up to 26 on the year, but the strong performances over the past two games will likely carry into the winter league. His best season from beyond the arc also came in 2011-12, posting a 33% mark. Kyle Komer, who had been absent during one of the earlier year losses, also stepped up during the win over M-Town. Komer ran the ball offense efficiently and had 11 points on five of seven shooting from the floor. He led a defense that held M-Town to only six point in the second half. The teams starting point guard shot 48% from the floor during the fall season and averaged just a touch over eight points a game (8.3). A third player that is seeming to find himself during the victories over M-Town and Powerstrokes was big man Andy Kempf, who posted 26 rebounds in those two games. Kempf has come a long way from his Reignmakers day of just 2.9 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. The up-tempo big man averaged 10.3 rebounds per game this season, leading the team. With the HHR adding more offensive power to their lineup, Kempf was able to use more of his energy on the boards and defensive end of the floor. He piled up 16 rebounds in the final game of the year in a win over the Powerstrokes. A new addition to the team, Justin Woo started to find his spot on the team on both sides of the ball as well. Woo totaled, six, five, and six rebound marks in the past three games and found some range from three, hitting going 4/9 from deep. He has been finding his niche on offense in the low post, using his size and ability against a few smaller defenders adding a low-post presence that the HHR truly need. His final numbers shooting wise do not show the large improvement he has had over the past three games and hopefully his growth continues as the team moves into the longer, more competitive winter season. Two other new adds to the team this year are big man Alex Yablonsky and guard Chuck Caldwell. Both added their own element to the team and helped push the HHR to the 5-3 record this season. Caldwell was missing from the final round robin tournament, but did add another scorer to the floor, which the team definitely missed in years past. He had one of his better games of the season, albeit in a loss earlier in the year to Powerstrokes when he scored 12 point on five of eight shooting from the field. Caldwell averaged just over 7 points a game and shot 41% from two point range. The aforementioned big mane Alex Yablonsky again added another big man element to the team which was needed as veteran Kerry Hunter (8.3 ppg 79% shooting from the floor in three games) had been rarely used this season. Yablonsky may have had his best streak of the season in the past three games totaling 18 rebounds and 33 points (6 rpg, 11 ppg). Though an up and down season for captain Jason Hunter, his strong scoring performance in the final game against Powerstrokes pushed them to a win. The oldest of the Hunter siblings found his shooting stroke again from the field after two woeful games scoring, going seven of ten from the field (3/4 from three), and battled on the defensive end of the floor. Like his brother, the captain had his best shooting season of the past four shooting 61% from two point range, 38% from three, and average nearly 10 points a game at 9.7 The HHR will be moving into preseason winter league action this coming Monday at 6:30 when they face off against an unknown opponent in Team Yeungling but hope to continue their winning ways deep into the winter league playoffs.

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