Courtesy Photo | Teams of soldiers with the 741st Military Intelligence Battlion, 704th MI Brigade, won...... read more read more
FORT MEADE, Md. - Two teams of soldiers from the 741st Military Intelligence Battalion, 704th MI Brigade, competed in the Fort Meade Basketball Intramural league championship. The Division I team took second place and the Division II team won first place.
The 741st MI BN/704th MI BDE has put the rest of post on notice: Our Sports Teams are Here to Win! The Silent Warriors from 741st had too much talent to fit on one team for the Ft. Meade Basketball Intramural League, so they fielded two, one to play in Division I and another to play in Division II. By the time the dust had settled and champions were crowned, they had narrowly missed a clean sweep of both divisions, finishing with a second place finish in D1, and bringing home the championship in D2.
Neither team had an easy road through the season, and both showed the same grit, commitment, perseverance and teamwork on the court that the Silent Warrior BN is known for off the court. The division II team, “First to Strike,” was led all season by 6'8" Spc. McClinton at center and the speed and quickness of guards Sgt. “Crossover Dribble” Barrett and Sgt. “Drive-the-Lane” Hannah. Sgt. "Lockdown D" Caldwell and Sgt. "3-point-shot" Walker filled out the starting rotation, however the real strength of the team was its depth. Chief Warrant Officer Ross, Spc. Holcomb, Cpl. Collington, and Sgt. Thompson all provided an energy boost to the team while filling valuable minutes coming off the bench, and coach Staff Sgt. Ferrell, used his savvy to ensure the team always played motivated and fundamentally sound basketball.
Despite losing a few tough games during the regular season, the D2 team started to gel once the playoffs kicked off. After dispatching of the team from 780th MI BDE in the early rounds, they hit their stride and rode a winning streak all the way to the finals where they faced off against the Air Force 32nd Air Intelligence Squadron. In the early going, 32nd IS had a hot shooting streak and was able to keep the game close, however in the end the 741st proved too much on both sides of the court and ran away with a resounding victory to cap off an undefeated post season run.
The Division I team, “First to Know,” had a tougher time finding its stride this season, but it just made it that much sweeter when they came together to finish in 2nd place. The team’s coach Sgt. Rodriquez had to deal with a varying cast of players, but always managed to get them to play together. Point guards Spc. Huff and Spc. Rivera brought quickness and intelligent decision making while leading the attacks, and were often able to feed the ball to the team’s sharpshooters Spc. Daggett and Sgt. Maple. Capt. Smith proved that even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes by knocking down a few key three pointers even if off the backboard, and along with the scrappy play of Staff Sgt. Howard and Spc. “JJ” Johnson, they provided the defensive and rebounding intensity needed to give the team the final lift.
After a sub-.500 regular season, the D1 team lost in the first round of the playoffs to the team from the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC). However, because of the double elimination format they were able to dig deep and ride a winning streak to fight all the way back, eventually getting their revenge against MEDDAC the second time around with a hard-fought victory to secure a spot in the finals. Alas, the clock finally struck midnight on the Cinderella team as they lost in the finals to the undefeated team from the Surface Force Logistics Center, but not before the team had provided a sterling example of what a group can accomplish when working together.
“Our team fought hard all season and through the playoffs,” said the D1 coach Sgt. Rodriquez. “I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work and determination to succeed. Undoubtedly this is the best group of soldiers I’ve had the opportunity to coach.”
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.18.2013 11:11 |
| Story ID: | 105406 |
| Location: | FORT MEADE, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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