WS Chronicle

Photo by Timothy Ramsey

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

With the basketball season over at the high school level, many players are looking for an outlet to continue to develop their skills.  The local recreation centers have created a league for the young men to compete in during the schools’ off season.

The Teen Basketball League, sponsored by the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department, is a league that is separated into two divisions to try and ensure a level playing field for all teams.

This past Thursday, the kids from Carl Russell Sr. Community Center played the B team from Sprague Street Community Center.  With many of the teams’ players made up of local high school players, many of the games are high quality.

Early on in the first quarter Sprague Street led by East Forsyth standout Khaliq McCummings, jumped out to an early lead.  During the second quarter, Sprague Street took total control of the game and never looked back.  At the half Sprague Street led 32-21 over Carl Russell.

Coming out of the intermission, Sprague Street continued to pour it on.  Before the end of the quarter, Carl Russell had fallen behind by more than 20 points.  They were not able to muster any consistency on offense or stop Sprague Street from scoring almost at will.

In the fourth quarter, with the game no longer in doubt, the kids from Sprague Street began to have a little fun on the floor.  The players from Carl Russell were good sports and continued to play hard, but fell to Sprague Street by the score of 69-35.

The second game was between the C Team from Sprague Street and 14th Street.  14th Street was able to jump all over the C Team from Sprague Street and eventually won by more than 30 points.

The last game of the night, however, turned out the be the best of the bunch.  Hanes Hosiery faced off against the B Team from Sims Street.  In a nail-biter, Hanes Hosiery was able to come away with a two-point victory.