| Rome Gladiators 2006 |
|
Ellis |
Cunningham |
Fountain |
Castile |
Wheeler |
Orr |
|
Champions
once again, Rome defeats Cartersville 125-114 (2OT)
Gladiators repeat winning 2OT
thriller 07/02/06 - David Dawson, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
The WBA's best two teams and best two players were on display Saturday night.
But there was only one trophy for the taking, and the Rome Gladiators made sure
it belonged to them. Again.
Showing great poise and relentless depth, the Gladiators claimed their second
straight WBA title by earning a 125-114 double-overtime victory over
Cartersville in the league's championship game at Shorter's Winthrop King
Centre.
This one was sweeter than last year, said head coach
Harold Ellis
. We proved tonight that we have the best 12 players in this league, hands down.
We've had the best record all year and tonight was the final proof of who's No.
1.
Rome and Cartersville entered the playoffs as the No. 1 and 2 seeds,
respectively, and the match-up of the two teams provided for a thrilling
championship game.
But Rome ultimately showed itself to be the deeper squad, outscoring
Cartersville 15-4 in the second OT to put an exclamation point on their third
season of existence.
We have at least five guys who come off the bench for us that could be starting
for any team in this league, said forward
Edmund Saunders (6'8''-F/C-78, college:
Connecticut),
who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Our depth has been big for us all year, and it was the difference tonight.
The league announced before the game that Rome's
Shaun Shaun Fountain (5'10''-G-77, college:
Wisc.-Milwaukee)
(5'10''-G-77, college:
Wisc.-Milwaukee)
and Cartersville's
Mike Dean
(6'2''-G-82, agency:
Warren Sports, college:
center Tenn.St.)
were being named the WBA's Co-Players of the Year. And both players proved
themselves deserving of the honor.
Dean, the former Coosa star, scored 29 points on 11-of-28 shooting.
Shaun Fountain (5'10''-G-77, college:
Wisc.-Milwaukee)
finished with 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds and was named the
playoffs' MVP to go along with his regular-season award.
Winning the two awards is great, said
Shaun Fountain (5'10''-G-77, college:
Wisc.-Milwaukee).
It shows that hard work, prayer and believing in yourself go a long way.
But more than (the individual honors), I'm just thrilled that we won the title, he said. Throughout my basketball career,
I've come close so many times
but I never got over the hump until tonight.
But Cartersville certainly made the Glads work for this one. Though the Warriors
never led at any stage of the game, they picked some opportune times to tie the
score.
They tied it for the first time all night with 1.5 seconds to go in regulation,
then overcame a seven-point deficit in the first overtime to tie it again and
send it into double OT.
But Rome opened the second extra session with a 10-2 run and held on from there.
Five Rome players finished in double figures. In addition to
Shaun Fountain (5'10''-G-77, college:
Wisc.-Milwaukee)
and Saunders,
Ray Cunningham (6'5''-F-79, college:
Murray St.)
scored 18 points,
Rasheim Wright (6'4''-G-81, college:
District of Columbia) scored 17 (including nine in the second overtime) and
Carl Edwards (6'5''-F-82, college:
Charleston)
finished with 10.
We won this thing as a group just like we've done all season long, said Ellis,
who was named the league's Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the award with
Cartersville's
David Archer
. I'm so proud of this team.
The WBA is an assemblage of far-flung teams from all over the Southeast. But
there wasn't much travel required for the teams  or their fans  for
Friday's
all North Georgia affair, which was played in front of a good-sized crowd at the
WKC. (The building was roughly three-quarters full).
I can't thank the fans enough, said Ellis. This gym had a lot of energy
tonight and they've supported us so well the past two years.
The Glads opened the night with a 9-0 run, led 27-20 at the end of the first
quarter, 53-41 at the half and 79-67 at the end of the third. But the Warriors,
led by Dean, charged back to tie it in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for
the late drama.
Give Cartersville credit, they gave us a really hard test, said Saunders. But
we showed who was the best team. Again.
NOTE: Former Atlanta Hawk Mike Glenn, who played at Coosa, was the emcee of the
pregame and postgame ceremonies.
WBA
Draft 2006
|
McCullough |
Randall |
Hill |
Echols |
Holley |
Round 1
1. South Carolina:
Louis McCullough (6'6''-F) #181
2. South Haven:
Quilninious Randall (6'6''-F-78) #75
3. Rome:
Eric Hill (6'0''-G-80) #110
4. Marietta:
William Howard (6'4''-G) #111
5. Tuscaloosa:
Najeeb Echols (6'7''-F) #41
6. Murfreesboro:
Chris Ferguson (6'8''-F-82) #12
7. Hattisburg: Brian Haven #140
8. Gainesville:
Stewart Holley (6'3''-G-76) #137
9. Cleveland: Torrance Coleman #199
10. Griffin: Stewart Gray #38
11. Arkansas:
Joey Britto (6'5''-G/F-83) #19
Round 2
1. Arkansas: Robert Awodu #172
2. Griffin:
Dion Sherrell (6'5''-G-83) #191
3. Cleveland:
Nabil Boudissa (6'7''-F/C-81) #193
4. Gainesville:
James Deloach #84
5. Hattisburg: James Thomas #153
6. Murfreesboro:
Tim Gray (6'6''-F-80) #62
7. Tuscaloosa:
Kareem Ward (6'4''-F-83) #178
8. Marietta:
Bryce May (6'7''-F) #7
9. Rome:
Brad Brickens (6'4''-G-82) #4
10. South Haven:
John Andrews (6'5''-F-85) #200
11. South Carolina:
Brian Isabelle (6'9''-C) #185
Round 3
1. South Carolina:
Damarcus Ellis (6'1''-G) #90
2. South Haven:
Jamarr Hardy (-G) #33
3. Rome: David Boyd #22
4. Marietta:
Jared Woodley (6'1''-G) #173
5. Tuscaloosa:
Craig Myree (6'5''-F) #197
6. Murfreesboro:
Richie Stevens #175
7. Hattisburg:
Bradley Ware (6'9''-C) #101
8. Gainesville: Renarda Smith #156
9. Cleveland: Travis Helmig #89
10. Griffin: Justin Simmions #1
11. Arkansas: AW Massey #2
Round 4
1. Arkansas:
Randall Hendricks (6'3''-G) #21
2. Griffin: Christopher Torregano #166
3. Cleveland:
Antonio Storey (6'0''-G,) #115
4. Gainesville:
Kareem Hodge #151
5. Hattisburg: William Scruggs #113
6. Murfreesboro:
Khayri McKinney (6'0''-G-83) #32
7. Tuscaloosa: Curtis Jackson #29
8. Marietta: Preston Bennette #188
9. Rome:
Chris Donaldson (-F) #103
10. South Haven: Kevin Murphy #102
11. South Carolina:
Michael Pierce (6'4''-G/F) #121
Round 5
1. South Carolina:
Jahi Rawlings (5'9''-G) #76
2. South Haven:
Xavier Powell (6'6''-F-84) #25
3. Rome:
Jason Thorne #192
4. Marietta:
Raphael Isaac (6'1''-G-82) #109
5. Tuscaloosa:
Jeremy Law (6'5''-G) #180
6. Murfreesboro:
Larry Thompson (6'5''-G) Jr #34
7. Hattisburg:
Larry Owens (6'7''-G/F) #79
8. Gainesville:
Clarence Owens (6'3''-G) #135
9. Cleveland: Julius Gresham #152
10. Griffin: Anthony Simon #170
11. Arkansas:
Olalekan Esho #63
