Hoyas in Pro City Kenner League, Qtrs. Pt. 1

August 4, 2014 - It's playoff time at Nike's DC Pro City Kenner League, the part of the summer when Georgetown's McDonough Arena is a bastion of win or go home, pro-am hoops action. What more can you ask for on an August Sunday than quarterfinal playoff competition?

Following are game reports. For more on individual players, including the Hoyas discussed below, see Premium Court.

DCX 62 Premier Athletics 61

In the day's most exciting game, eighth seeded DCX overcame a 13 point second half deficit to defeat Premier Athletics, the reigning DC Pro City Kenner League champion and 2014 playoff top seed. The victory was more impressive as DCX did it after ceding a 17-0 run to start the second half.

During Premier's run, Andrew Washington and Corey Allmond both got busy, playing off each other and scoring. The pair accounted for 13 and 12 points respectively.

DCX righted itself by returning to what created their 35-30 halftime advantage; playing inside-out offensively and picking up their defensive intensity. G'Town's Bradley Hayes was DCX's rediscovered inside presence; he ended up with a game high 25 points. Corey Spence of Northern Colorado led the perimeter charge, finishing with 11 points, while Davon Usher chipped in nine, sinking six of seven charity stripe attempts in the process.

Enter Georgetown's Aaron Bowen with the game winning shot: He sank a layup with 8.5 seconds remaining, one scored after being pushed left by Premier's Washington, he returned to his right hand and got to the rim. Bowen logged 14 points.

Premier didn't muster a good shot at the buzzer, with Allmond's attempt going wide. Afterward the team didn't finger point.

"Down the stretch, I made mistakes. And as a team, we made mistakes" said Washington to his teammates, ultimately declaring "I blame myself. I don't blame anybody else".

DCX's Spence said of his team's second half comeback, "We picked up the intensity. They made their run, we got ours". They did, in more ways than one.

Symonds All Stars 84 On Point 74

Tied at halftime and facing one of this year's DC Pro City best performers in Tre Kelley, Symonds dialed down on a tenet of the game.

"We finally got down on defense" said Curtis Symonds of his team's commitment to getting stops. He then indicated defending turned into rebounds, which turned into points.

His On Point counterpart Barry Aberdeen, visibly distraught afterward simply said "I can't call it right now" when asked why his team faltered down the stretch.

In terms of scoring, Symonds lauded the work of Curtis Symonds, Jr. (12 points), Jasper Williams, Jr. (21 points) and G'Town's Reggie Cameron (22 points). Joining them in double figures was Danny Sumner, who finished with 14 points

Kelley of On Point paced the game, scoring 26 points. Teammate James Gist poured in 17.

Notes:

-DCX and Symonds All-Stars face one another in semifinal play Saturday at 2p EST. Georgetown's McDonough Arena is, per usual, the site.

-Kelley is mulling NBA training camp options. If they are not suitable, he'll return overseas. Last season he played in the D-League.

-Devin Sweetney, a 6'6", 215 pound forward is comparing options to play in Turkey, Greece, Poland, Croatia, France, Italy and Romania.