Bay County Basketball Legends from the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's gathered to relive past glories. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Youth Prevails In Historic Legends' Basketball Game 122-100
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s Decades Collide at JJKN Hoops
March 21, 2010
By: Kevin Kula
When All Stars from four different decades returned to the court Saturday afternoon, sparks flew as the high-powered, high-flying offenses of past eras clashed. Although the skilled veterans from the 70's and 90's put up an admirable fight, the youthful scoring machines from the 2000's, combined with the 80's all stars, stole the show on the old St. Joes' gym floor in the final quarter.
A full crowd was on hand at JJKN Hoops for this Bay County Legends All Star game. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Opening tipoff grabbed by the 80's team. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
While the squad of 2000-80's players controlled the opening tip-off, it was a blast from the past that scored first. The players from the 70's-90's jumped to the early lead, but the "youngsters" from the 80's and 00's fought back to gain a 10-6 advantage over the their older adversaries.
2pts for the 70-90's team. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Ball handling was key to Defense. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Things went from bad to worse then for the 70's-90's duo. Both teams shifted lines, and the juggernaut squad from the 2000's hit the court. By the time the first twelve minute quarter came to an end, the high-flying players from the most recent decade had extended their lead to a commanding 41-24. The lagging team found their answer in the form of
Joe Pergande . The Essexville Garber graduate from the 70's tacked on two three pointers and a two-pointer onto his team's score to narrow the gap to 41-32.
(Above) Western D stops Nick Simpson on this shot. (Below) But not on this one!
(MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
That's where the young legs of the players from the 2000's took over again. Led by
Willy Pickvet from Pinconning, and
Nick Simpson from All Saints, the power string continued to rack up the points for their team. Unfortunately for them, they encounter one problem they did not expect -
Devon Gilliam, a graduate of Bay City Central in the 90's. Led by the run-n-gun Gilliam, the players from twenty years ago were able to not only hang on, but narrow their deficit to a mere 56-50 at the end of the first half.
Pickvet shows he's still got game! (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
A nice 3pt shot! (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
The team from the 80's-2000's began to put the game away in the third quarter. Despite Pergande's and his squad from the 70's best efforts, the 80's squad pushed their team's lead to 65-54 - and the scoring machines from the 2000's were on the sidelines waiting to go in. The 2000's played a strong game, but their offensive was evenly matched by Gilliam and his squad from the 90's. At the end of the third, the score was 87-78.
Central star Devon Gilliam gets it's done! (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Pressure! (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
ASC's Mike Gwizdala looks for away around a Legends alumni. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
A pair of fourth quarter dunks from Pickvet fueled 4th quarter 80s-00s scoring spurt. The powerhouse team added 35 points to their winning total, while their opponents managed only 13. After shifting their lines to include players from both the 80's and 2000's, there was little the 70's-90's team could do to stop the onslaught. At the end of the "clash-of-titans" game, the score was 122 for the 80's-2000's duo, and a solid 100 for the 70's-90's.
Blasts from the 3pt zone helped both teams!
(MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Pickvet WOWS the crowd.
(MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
"It means a lot." That's how Garber class of '73 graduate
Greg Coburn described the Legends Decade game.
"It's a great way to show people how basketball used to be way back when. It's great to be able to get all these great athletes together."
For all the fans who were there to witness it, the Decade game was a sight to behold for sure. With 222 points scored, the game was action packed from tip-off to final buzzer. After how close the players from the 70's got to humbling those from the 2000's, the question is sure to arise: How would today's players do against those legends from the past?
Garber Grad Greg Coburn coaches for All Saints now as they make another run at the State Title! (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Total effort was put out on the court Saturday!
(MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
Nice Shots came from all areas of the court. (MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)
(MyBayCity Photo by Kevin Kula)