Shox 70, Hyperflight 67

Team Shox walked into the Seward Park HS gym with a whole new identity. Just hours before, the team pulled off the first trade of the NRF season which sent last year's MVP Jason Burke to the Air Force One for Christian Grant-Fields and Stalley. Burke was by far the team's best player, so everybody was curious to see how the new look Shox would respond. And surprisingly, they looked pretty damn good.

Playing without Justin Leonard, Shox came out of the gate strong against the 3-1 Hyperflight. Josh Gotthelf kicked things off with two straight threes and Shox owned a 9-2 lead early on. Behind Niko Klansek's 11 first half points, Hyperflight was able to close the gap, but Shox still led 28-25 at halftime.

The second half pretty much belonged to Shox's Patrick Cassidy. After dishing out four assists in the first half, Cassidy went into Raf-mode (aka Rafael DaSilva) and started firing shots away and scored 14 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half. Although he has proven he can knock down jumpers, PC was slashing to the hoop and even drew an and-one on a fast break layup. Before you knew it, Shox was leading Hyperflight 60-40.

Shox's new additions were also looking good. Stalley started the game off slow, but really picked it up in the second half connecting on several drives. Grant-Fields had a solid debut and showed he could fill Burke's void (well as much he possibly could) by dominating inside and on the glass. CGF finished with 14 points and 11 boards. He also provided the highlight of the game, by emphatically rejecting Klansek's layup attempt late in the second half (I know it was called a foul, but everybody can agree it was ALL BALL).

Even though this seemed like a blowout, Hyperflight made ferocious comeback late in the game thanks to their hack-a-Shox strategy. With Shox missing free throws and turning the ball over, Hyperflight took full advantage. Behind Klansek and Lou Miguel, Hyperflight were able to come within 4 points with 30 seconds to go. But Cassidy was able to hit key free throws and Shox held on and won.

Cassidy led Shox with 27 points (22 in the second half) and Klansek led Hyperflight with 29 points and 8 rebounds.  

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