43rd LRS 3-peats as IM Basketball Champs Published March 26, 2009 By Irvin Gourdine POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Not once or twice, but three times the 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron has won the intramural basketball championship. This year LRS had three different teams, two of which made it to the playoffs. LRS (A) was the team consisting of the players who won the last two titles. They came into this season with confidence, dominating the regular season with a record of 14 - 0 and scoring 687 points. They are the first team on base to make it to the championship three times in a row. No team this year has came close to beating LRS (A); that is to say, no team until the 43rd Communication Squadron faced them in the championship game. The 43rd CS was the top seeded team in their division, finishing the season with a record of 13 - 1. Unlike LRS, CS had a much harder road to the top. But according to Bradley Barnhart, teamwork got them there. "It started with many practices at the Fort Bragg gyms in November and carried though to the very last game," he said. "We don't have anyone that can go out and win a game by themselves. It was teamwork that got us into the championship game." Their only loss this season came at the hands of 43rd LRS (B) who defeated them by only one point. CS had a chance to send the game into overtime when LRS (B) fouled point guard Jamell Camper at the end of regulation sending him to the free throw line. Camper made the first free throw but missed the second, which would have tied the game. The loss didn't discourage the team as they went into the postseason rolling over the competition on the way to their first appearance in the championship. Coming into this game, LRS was an obvious favorite to win, but CS didn't make it easy for them. CS led throughout the entire first half. With two minutes left in the half, CS led 23 to 14. Demetris Coleman led the way for CS, coming off the bench to score nine points in the first half. LRS struggled to find their rhythm, missing shots they were making throughout the season. Dobie Strong was the leading scorer for LRS in the first half with 10 points. As the half came to an end, LRS rallied back into the game with guard Robert Naylor hitting a 3-pointer to send them into halftime down 25 to 21. In the second half, LRS began heating up with a 9 to 2 run, giving them a 30 to 27 lead with 13:43 left in the half. Naylor came alive, hitting several 3-pointers. "After missing several shots in the first half, I knew that if I kept shooting eventually I'd start making them," Naylor said. "Once I made my first three-pointer at the end of the first half, that's all I needed to get going." CS never regained the lead, but that didn't stop them from trying. Coleman stayed strong for CS, leading his team in scoring in the second half with five points. As the game came to an end, CS found themselves with an opportunity to send the game into overtime at the free throw line. This time CS came through when Aaron Gemalsky hit a free throw to tie the game at 38. With seconds on the clock, LRS had a chance to win when Naylor dished the ball to Kenneth Carter for the winning shot. However, great defense by Barnhart forced the miss that sent the game into overtime. During overtime, CS took the early lead 40 to 39. Strong hit two free throws with a minute left to give LRS the lead. With time running out, CS kept coming up short as LRS won their third straight title by a final score of 43 to 40. You couldn't put together a better final game for the season. Truly, the two best teams faced off in overtime. CS tough play kept them in the lead in the first half. However, it was persistence from LRS in the second half behind Naylor's 12 points to take and hold the lead until CS tied the game at the end of regulation. It came to an extra three minutes to determine the number one team. "It's tough to win one championship and to accomplish this feat three years in row is remarkable," said Derrick Walden, coach of LRS. "It shows that playing together as a team and that playing unselfish basketball wins championships." With such an easy road to the final game, LRS found the last game to be the toughest as they walk away still holding the trophy for another year.