By Sean Ward | Photo courtesy of Alex Denner/Legacy Leagues
Physicality was vital in The Throne’s 68-57 victory over the Blue Devils as they won the battle on the glass, 39-28.
The Throne notched their second-straight victory thanks in large part to the return of Russ Payton. The former Offensive Player of the Year ignited a spark under The Throne as he lead the way with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Payton got some assistance from his teammates as Acquelle Gordon had 16 points going 8-of-11 from the floor. Jason Hernandez adding 19 points.
“It was amazing having Russ back, he’s a killer and it’s good to have family in the game,” the Throne’s Jason Hernandez said. “In the first half I was so surprised to be wide open that I couldn’t hit a jump shot because there was so much attention on everybody else.”
As for the Blue Devils, their tough start to the season continues as they have dropped their third-consecutive game. The lack of talent is certainly not the problem as they have many players who are capable of generating offense.
Zacarri Graham, Steve Echols and Matt Marconi all scored in double figures and shot a combined 62 percent from the field. However, with all of these talented players, the Blue Devils have yet to figure out how to play as a unit and therefore haven’t been able to find a way to close out games. Things don’t get any easier in Week 4 as they take on a very strong and undefeated Team Moose squad.
On the flip side, The Throne’s victory was not just strictly because of offense as they created turnovers and played a very aggressive style of defense which prevented the Blue Devils from getting hot.
“We just talked on defense a lot better today,” Hernandez added. “Our rotations were a little better and had pretty much are whole team so it just worked well.”
Hernandez and company will try to continue their winning ways as they take on Nothing Easy (1-2) next Monday. With multiple players capable of getting the job done, The Throne looks like a serious threat so far in the early season.
“I’m not sure who’s on Nothing Easy, but were starting to click so nobody should want to face us.” Hernandez said.
