Ron Artest after his duel with the Franchise. Photo: Kyle Henry

Word of advice when playing against a pro ball player, don’t say anything reckless that will give him extra incentive to hang 40 points on your squad. Last night at Nike Pro City (68th and Lexington) John “Franchise” Strickland did the exact opposite when his Gold’s Gym squad faced off against Sacramento King Ron Artest and Queensbridge. This game was highly anticipated, fans poured in to Hunter College gym for the 8:30pm start, it was so crowded several fans had to stand at the top of the bleachers the entire game.

QB came out the gate running, finishing three alley-oops, one a ridiculous baseline throw down from Daryl “Showtime” Hill to Ryan “Special FX” Williams where his chest was even with the rim, on their way to a 31-19 lead after one quarter

Gold’s Gym battled and stayed in the game behind the hot three-point shooting of Smush Parker, who hit four treys in the first half, but it seemed that every time they trimmed the lead a questionable call would go against them as they trailed 63-50 at the half.

Gold’s Gym came out on fire to begin the third quarter, Gordon Malone scored in the paint just about whenever he wanted to. They cut the QB lead to four points at 78-74 and that’s when things went south. Franchise yelled for everyone to hear, “Yo, I got Ron on lock.” Then turned to Artest looked him in the eye and made matters worse by saying, “You ain’t score all quarter since I been guarding you, real talk.” Artest laughed it off and then proceeded to score five quick points, including a trey in Franchise’s grill, that got just about everyone including Franchise laughing. Artest put the icing on the cake on a hard baseline drive that he finished with a reverse throw-in dunk on Franchise and Malone. The pro Artest crowd jumped to their feet and began chanting MVP!, MVP!

QB maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way to a 123-113 victory. Even though QB held a comfortable lead for most of the fourth quarter, the tension in the gym was unrivaled. Both teams battled like this one was for a championship ring, definitely a fun game to watch.

Artest led all scorers with 40 points, and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Jarrid Frye and Special FX added 24 and 22 points respectively.

Smush Parker was the high man for Gold’s Gym with 30 points, he also added eight boards and five dimes, with zero turnovers. Malone finished with 28 points and eight boards and Franchise scored 17 points and nine rebounds, including a two-handed dunk that no one in attendance thought he could convert.

John “Franchise” Strickland after his battle with Ron Artest. Photo: Kyle Henry

In the first game Prime Time knocked off United Brooklyn 124-110. Corey “Homicide” Williams scored 20 first half points as UBK trailed 59-58 at halftime. However Homicide sat out the rest of the game due to a twisted ankle. The injury sort of spelled the end for UBK, especially with veteran guard John “Mookie” Thomas not in the lineup. It seems like we have been mentioning Sundiata “Yata” Gaines’s name everyday, and for good reason. Yata showed up in the second quarter and momentum immediately shifted in favor on Prime Time. He went on to score the coolest 27 points you will ever see. Yata is smooth and never looks in distress on the court. UBK made a mini-run late in the second half, but a few outside jumpers by former St. John’s University forward Kyle Cuffe closed the door on UBK.

Gaines led all scorers with 27 points, while Pete Mulligan and Cuffe scored 22 and 21 points respectively. Homicide and James “Stixx” Williams finished with 20 points a piece for UBK.

Pro City resumes play Tuesday July 22nd when Mike “The Icon” Campbell and the X-Men battle Prime Time at 6:30pm. In the 8:30 game, Corey “Homicide” Williams and United Brooklyn face off against Junie “Mr. Excitement” Saunders and Nike 1.

Former St. John’s University and Rice HS forward Kyle Cuffe. Photo: Kyle Henry

At the Cage (West 4th and Avenue of the Americas) Thursday night it wasn’t pretty, in fact it was downright right ugly at times, but Jimmy’s All-Stars prevailed by 12 over Unruly Heir at West 4th Street. John Hawthorne led the charge with 34 points and Scottie Draughon chipped in 15 to improve Jimmy’s All-Stars to 2-3. Jimmy’s All-Stars led by just a point after the third, that’s when Hawthorne hit the activate button and took over. The lightning-quick guard got to the rack with ease and knocked down clutch free-throws to seal the victory for Jimmy’s All-Stars. Sansho Scott was the lone bright spot for Unruly Heir, he dropped 23, including six trey-bombs, in a losing effort.

Jimmy’s All-Star is scheduled to take on Money Inc. Sunday, July 27 at 6:00 p.m.

Contributors: Trevor Kapp