Intramural 2011 champs crowned Thursday in Spectrum
What started as a field of 62 teams boiled down to a grand finale of the USU Intramurals men’s open league championship between two teams, the Charles Hendersons and the Clown Fish.
The game opened up with a 3-pointer by Hendersons’ captain Nick Thompson to charge from the beginning, and it was a charge that would lead the Hendersons’ all the way to a 65-49 win.
“You know, it feels great,” said Hendersons guard and former Utah State forward Clint Lee. “I did this three years ago when we were champs and that shirt means a lot to me.”
Lee powered the Hendersons on the defensive and offensive ends of the court, scoring 10 points in the first half, trailing only teammate Brad Tippets for the scoring lead at half. Tippets had 11 at the game’s halfway point.
“Clint played like a dragon out there,” Thompson said of his team’s superstar, but gave credit to the rest of the team as well, saying, “I didn’t have to say much. They were self-fueled, you could say.”
Despite the stellar play from Lee, he offered the majority of credit for his team’s success to the captain.
“Really the heart is probably our captain, Nick,” Lee said. “He can shoot the rock and he keeps us together.”
Leading by just six points at halftime, the outcome of the game was still very much in question for the Hendersons, but two-thirds of the way through the final half, Clown Fish had managed to fall behind by double digits after going cold from outside. The Hendersons reached the peak of their lead when Lee blocked a Clown Fish layup attempt, gathered the rebound, and found Tippets on the fast break for an easy layup to put Charles Hendersons up by 21 points.
Following a high-floater along baseline and a 3-pointer by guard Chet Gardner, Clown Fish looked like it was on the verge of mounting a comeback, but the Hendersons’ Nick Boyd quickly buried those hopes converting on a layup basket, drawing the foul as well.
One last dunk by Lee put the nail in the coffin for the Charles Hendersons and sealed the second consecutive championship for Thompson and two of his teammates. It was also the third championship for Lee in the past four years on the court at the Spectrum, as Lee’s team won the 2008 intramural title, then during Lee’s year as a member of the Utah State men’s basketball team he cut down the championship nets for USU’s second-straight Western Athletic Conference title.
The tournament, which began on Feb. 21 with 61 teams (one of the 62 did not qualify for postseason due to poor sportsmanship), reached its climax with a winner-take-all match at the Spectrum between two teams, each boasting players familiar with playing on that court.
Along with a former Aggie player in Lee, the Hendersons also has future USU player Steven Thornton, who is a prop-48 player this year and will join the team for next season.
When asked how Thompson assembled the team, he said, “You build it from the ground up, like any good house. We got some big guys, some pillars to our team, and just built around them.”
For Clown Fish, Cameron Gardner is a current member of USU’s scout team, while two-time all-WAC guard Jared Quayle is also on the Clown Fish roster, but was absent for the title game.
In Thornton’s case, having yet to take the floor in an Aggie uniform, Thompson is hopeful that his experience as a member of Charles Hendersons playing on the floor at the Spectrum will pay off in the future.
“We want him to get a little time on here before the season started next year,” Thompson said.
As for the future, Thompson says he has plans to defend his title again next year, aiming for a third straight championship.
Thompson said, “I’ll celebrate tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to business.”
That business may be coming much sooner than later, with the team likely heading to Las Vegas next week to compete against other intramural champions from around the western United States.
Jesse Parker, the intramural basketball supervisor for USU Campus Recreation, said the championship teams have the option to go to Las Vegas with the costs of gas and hotel supplemented by the university, a chance the Charles Hendersons plan on utilizing.
As for the intramural season, Parker is relieved that it is finally wrapping up.
“I’m dealing with 64 (men’s) open teams, I had 32 six-foot and under teams, 10 co-rec teams and 10 women’s teams, so finishing it up is definitely the highlight of my week going into spring break.”
– matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu