Team Trouble are no problem for Kings
- Updated: January 5, 2020
2019 SAN DIEGO KINGS BASKETBALL
By Damon Sloan
Special to EastCountySports.com
EL CAJON – The San Diego Kings made it four-in-a-row against their nemesis Team Trouble as they took home a win, 115-92, on Saturday night at El Cajon Valley High.
Team Trouble came into the matchup first in the Far West division rankings, so with the win, the Kings now have a strong possibility of being ranked first in this upcoming week’s power rankings.
James Hancock goes up for a shot against Team Trouble on Saturday.
The Kings did not have the greatest night shooting the basketball but they controlled the boards again with 61 total rebounds in the game and a big part of that was James Hancock, who got his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He was also 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and helped contribute to the Kings shooting 31-of-40 from the line as a team.
“We’re clicking on all cylinders right now,” Kings Head Coach Davion Famber exclaimed after the big win on Saturday. “We rose to the occasion and we played the perfect game tonight. We shared the ball, controlled the boards and got after it on defense for 48 minutes.”
The Kings did just that after a strong start from Team Trouble as they knocked down four consecutive threes in the first.
But the Kings weathered Trouble’s early run by answering on the offensive end with Hancock, who had six points and five rebounds (three offensive) in the first quarter alone.
BJ Mathews came off the bench and hit a mid-range jumper followed by a spot-up three to put the Kings on a 9-0 run.
The Kings ended the first up 30-19, the first time they had ever held a team to under 20 points in the first and they never looked back.
The Kings were able to sustain their lead throughout the game because of the lack of shooting from Team Trouble, which couldn’t find its offensive rhythm throughout the entire game.
The Kings continued to pile on their onslaught in the third after Marcus Bell caught a massive two-hand alley-oop and Julian Sampah got a breakaway slam in the third to put the Kings up, 71-54, in the third.
Manny Perez led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds and talked about picking up their defense early in the first to build their lead.
The Kings’ Manny Perez puts up a shot against Team Trouble on Saturday at El Cajon Valley High.
“We know we can score with anyone, it’s the defense side we have to stay locked into,” said Perez. “We picked up our communication on defense and started to contest their threes. Once they started missing, we had them.”
The Kings defense did a great job holding Team Trouble under 100 points and keeping its shooting percentage at 41 percent.
Hancock finished the game with his fourth straight double-double and he will be big for the Kings going forward with center Bell leaving the team.
Bell has signed with Petroleros De Camargo, a professional ballclub in Mexico in the Chihuahua Basketball league.
Bell finished his last game with the Kings scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds and will look to bring his superior post play to De Camargo.
Mathews and LJ Kimbrough both played great games off the bench for the Kings.
Mathews had 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists and was able to attack the rim and show off his in-between game.
Kimbrough stayed aggressive like he was last week against Seven City Knights, crashing the glass for offensive putbacks and nabbed three steals from applying a lot of pressure to the Team Trouble guards.
B.J. Mathews brings up the ball on Saturday night for San Diego.
The Kings are on a tear right now having won four-in-a-row and knocking off the top-ranked team in their Far West division. There is no sports team hotter in the ABA or in San Diego for that matter. They are fast, athletic and play tremendous team basketball on the offensive end, using their dominant frontcourt led by Hancock, Perez, and Julian Sampah. They have brilliant guards who get out and push the ball like Ray Williams and “Action” Braxton Smith, who returned to action this past Saturday.
All kids under the age of 17 get in for free, so If you have youth that wants to get more involved with the game of basketball, please come see this Kings team play.
They have two more home games in January, including next week against the San Diego Guardians and again on January 25 against the Henderson Hawks.
Visit the links below to get $5 off your standard or VIP tickets. Tip-off for next week’s rubber match against the Guardians starts at 6 p.m.
Click on the image to buy Kings tickets NOW!
