Savannah Storm 132 Fayetteville Flight 100

The Savannah Storm defeated the Fayetteville Flight 132 to 100 Saturday evening in Fayetteville, North Carolina. On 12-18-10 the Storm beat the Flight 107-99 in Savannah.

For the second straight game, the Storm was led in scoring by 6'-3" guard from Durham, N.C. Leon Fraizer, Jr.with 27 points. Josh Walker, 6'-3" guard from Spartenberg, S.C. scored 24 points. Xavier Blain-Cruz, 6'-2" PG/SG added 21 points.

The Storm/Flight will play again today(Sunday) with the game starting at 5pm in Fayetteville.

Storm Travels to Fayetteville

Leon Frazier, Jr. is coming off a stellar performance this past Sunday against the Columbus Riverballers. The 6'-3" guard from Durham, North Carolina scored 41 points and had 11 rebounds, both high for the team.

This weekend the Storm hit the road with back to back games with the Fayettville Flight in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The game Saturday evening starts at 7pm. The Storm will play the Flight Sunday before heading home.

On December 18, 2010, Savannnah beat Fayetteville 107-99 at Savannah High School.

Savannah Storm 156 Colunbus Riverballers 146

The Savannah Storm defeated the Columbus Riverballers 156-146 Sunday afternoon at Savannah Hign School. The score was tired 14 times and the lead changed 27 times. The last couple of minutes the Storm was able to get the lead and hold on at the end to preserve the win.

Leon Frazier, Jr. was the leading scored for the Storm with 41 points and he grabbed a team high 11 rebounds. Josh Walked scored 29, D. J. Henley 24, Xavier Blain-Cruz 21, and Ben Chisholm 14.

Columbus 5'-10" guard, Anthony Jackson led his team in scoring with 36 points. Dominique Hicks scored 24 points and collected 13 rebounds(Mike Davis also grabbed 13 rebounds). The Columbus bench outscored the Savannah bench 51-27.

Comments by Storm head coach Patricia Huisinga after the game: "The general strategy that we had today against the Riverballers was to come out with a lot of intensity, play good, solid defense, and get to the rim. We had a hard fought battle against the Giants last night and took a tough loss, so our philosophy was to come out and play are kind of ball. We wanted to be physical and get to the free throw line and get up and down the floor. The Riverballers are good shooters, especially #3(Anthony Jackson), so we wanted to come out, be disruptive and play hard man-to-man defense".

"I'm proud of how my guys came back from a deficit in back to back games. Today, we got over the hump and learned that we can overcome any obstacle. We're a deep. talented group and we got good, quality minutes from everyone that played".

Caught up with Columbus Riverballer Head Coach, Alton Hicks after the game. Coach Hicks had praise for the Storm: "The Storm is an outstanding team and they don't give up. They pressure the whole game. Coach Huisinga is a great coach. Are only two losses this year are by the Storm".

JACKSONVILLE GIANTS 164 SAVANNAH STORM 128

The Savannah Storm(9-3) have lost three games this year all defeats by the Jacksonville Giants. The Giants defeated the Storm Saturday 164-128 at Savannah High School.

The first quarter was nip and tuck with the Giants holding a one point edge(34-33) at the close of the quarter. The second quarter saw Jacksonville score 26 points before Savannah scored a point-the Storm played hard but could not recover from the defecit.

Leading scorer for the Storm was Josh Walker with 31 points. Leon Fraiser Jr. added 28 points. Xavier Blain-Cruz scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and had a game high 7 assists.

Seven foot center, Jermaine Bell, led Jacksonville with 34 points, had 7 blocked shots, and collected 15 rebounds. Nick Wallery scored 27 points and tied Bell with game high rebounds with 15. Antonio Lawrence scored 22 points and Anthony Lumpkins scored 21 points.

Savannah Head Coach, Patricia Huisinga, stated, "We knew we were in for a battle against the undefeated Giants and we were excited to face them at home. Unfortunately, we lost our big guy, Sherard Reddick to injury and were without another post player, Bernard Dixon, but we never backed down. Lacking matching size, we threw a small, fast line up against them and outrun them. We did a good job fighting back in the third quarter, but couldn't quite close in on them in the end. The final score definitely does not depict the effort and the heart that the Storm displayed. I'm proud of how my team faced adversity tonight and I'm happy with their unrelenting effort. We'll take the knowledge of what we learned and use it to improve each and every game, starting tomorrow".

Before leaving the gym, I met with Jacksonville Giants Head Coach, Kevin Waters. Coach Waters praised the Storm, stating "the Storm is a great team, they showed lots of energy, and they provided good competition."

Storm vs. Giants

The Jacksonville Giants are in town Saturday at 5:30 pm to play the Savannah Storm at Savannah High School. Undefeated Jacksonville(12-0) won their last home game on 1-16-11 defeating the Orlando Kings 129-104(this was the closest game this season for the Giants). The ABA ranks Jacksonville #2 in the Power Rankings.

The Storm(9-2) lost both of their games to the Giants at beautiful Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. Currently the ABA ranks Savannah as the #8 team in the Power Rankings(they move up two spots).

Prior to the last Storm game in Jacksonville, I had my picture taken with Jermaine Bell, the 7 foot center for the Giants. The lefty Bell, has a deadly, soft, jump shot in the paint and if he gets the basketball close to the rim it is an easy dunk for him.

Gator

At the Savannah Storm game against the Columbus Riverballers Sunday was the Harlem Globetrotter legend, Larry "Gator" Rivers.

Prior to the game, "Gator" briefly entertained the fans with his dribbling and ball handling skills. He then went out to close to half court, dropped the ABA ball to the floor, and kicked the ball into the basket.

Savannah Storm 134 Columbus Rivreballers 122

The Savannah Storm defeated the Columbus Riverballers 134 to 122 Sunday afternoon at Savannah High School. The Riverballers played well considering they spent 4 hours traveling Sunday morning arriving in Savannah around noon for the 1pm tip off.

The Storm hot shooting in the first half gave them a 22 point lead at the end of the half. They shot 62.2% from the field and made 10 out of 15 from the 3 point range(66.7%).

Josh Walker led the team in scoring with 32 points. D.J. Henley added 23 points. Center Sherard Reddick had a double/double with 17 points and a game high 14 rebounds. Xavier Blain-Cruz scored 13 points and had a game high 11 assists.

The Riverballers were led in scoring by 5'-10" guard Anthony Jackson with 37 points. D.J. Hicks scored 25 points and Mike Davis added 21 points.

After the game, Storm head coach, Patricia Huisinga, made the following comments:"Our preimeter shooting was a key factor for our victory today against the Columbus Riverballers. Anytime your team shoots almost 60% from the field, it's going to be a good day."

"Getting D.J. Henley back from injury was huge, as he was especially hot from behind the 3-point line, hitting 6-9 shots(7-11FG overall). He's an exciting player to watch and he adds even more intensity and confidence to our talented team".

"All of our players are beginning to understand their roles in our lineup, which adds to our already unselfish play. By understanding their roles, it makes it possible to continuosly feed a guy when he is on fire and it makes it fun for everyone. On any given night, any one of our players can go off and have a big game".

"I was very pleased with how our team handled adversity today. Whenever you're playing a talented team that is undefeated, you know they are capable of making a run at any time. I"m glad to see that we took their best shot, stayed focused, regrouped, and continued to play smart basketball."

Storm vs. Columbus

Savannah Storm General Manager Ed DeVita, Head coach Patricia Huisinga, and Owner Anthony Bryan confer at Storm practice Wednesday evening at Savannah High School Gym.

The Storm announced a special home game will be played Sunday, January 16, 2011, starting at 1pm against Columbus at the Savannah High School Gym. The ABA Power Rankings list Columbus as the 13th beast team in the ABA. The Storm have moved up two spots and now are ranked #10 in the ratings.

Savannah Storm 136 Florida Makos 112

The Savannah Storm defeated the Florida Makos from Gainesville, Florida 136-112 Sunday afternoon at Savannah High School Gym.

Once again the leading scorer for the Storm was Josh Walker who scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Leon Fraizer Jr. added 30 points and had 9 rebounds. Bernard Dixon had a double/double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Makos brought 8 players to the game-the Storm bench outscored the Makos bench 42-11. Leading scored for the Makos was Cori Gaither with 28 points and Mike Welch was the leading rebounder for the game with 19.

Comments by Storm Head Coach Patricia Huisinga after the game: "I am very proud of how my guys are playing basketball. We are a very unselfish team that is improving practice after practice and game after game. We are beginning to play fantastic team defense and move the ball well on offense. We need to polish a few of our rough spots, but they are simple fixes."

"I'm excited about our defense, in particular, right now. By playing good, aggressive team defense, we are causing a lot of confusion for the opponent and creating a lot of turnovers. That is especially important in this league, because of the 3D bonus. Our defense is also giving us momentum and helping us get into a good flow for our offense."

"We have a very deep and talented roster. On any given night, any of our players can go off and score a lot of points. In fact, in the six games that we've played, thirteen of our guys(out of 16) have scored in double digits at least once. This is a testament to our fantastic team chemistry and unselfish play".

Xavier Blain-Cruz

Xavier Blain-Cruz returned to the Storm team this week after spending the Holidays with his family and friends in New York.

The 6'-3" PG/SG has plenty of assets.

Xavier is an excellant ball handler and can bring the ball up the court against pressure. He sees the court well and distrubates the basketball to his teammates to give them good shot opportunities.

He can shoot the 3-point shot with ease. If a defender guards him to close, he can drive past the defender and can finish at the rim. Xavier has the ability to create his own shot off the dribble.

Xavier jumps well, gets his share of rebounds, and can dunk.

Because of his strengths, he gets a lot of playing time, has a good attitude, and can play defense.

National Anthem

Lon Forbes is leaving center court escorted by Hooter girls after singing the National Anthem at the last Storm home game against the Grizzlies. Fans can see the Hooter girls at the Storm home games.

The next Storm game is Sunday at 3:00pm against the Florida Makos form Gainesville, Florida. The game will be played at the Savannah High School Gym.

On January 4, 2011, the Jacksonville Giants defeated the Florida Makos 187-123(the game was played in Gainesville, Florida).

Storm Game Saturday Cancelled

The Savannah Storm announced that their game with the Heartland Prowl scheldued for Saturday has been cancelled.

Yesterday evening(Wednesday) the Storm practiced for two hours at the Savannah High School Gym. The practice was vigorous. The team spent part of the time working on defensive schemes.

The Storm will play the Florida Makos from Gainesville, Florida on Sunday at Savannah High School Gymnasium. The afternoon game will start at 3:00 pm.

Two Games This Weekend for the Storm

Savannah Storm General Manager Ed DeVita with Head Coach, Patricia Huisinga, prior to the game with the Georgia Gwizzlies. DeVita also helped as assistant coach in the game.

Storm has a busy weekend hosting two games against Florida teams. On Saturday at 7pm the Storm will play the Heartland Prowl. The Florida Makos from Gainesville, Florida will play the Storm Sunday at 3:00pm at Savannah High.

Week #8 has the Savannah Storm ranked #11 in the ABA Power Rankings. Moving up to #2 in the ratings is the undefeated Jacksonville Giants(7-0). The Giants recently set an ABA scoring record when they scored 206 points to defeat the Georgia Gwizzlies who scored 102 points.

Eddie Gonzales Concepcion steps Down as Storm Head Coach

Coach Concepcion:

I was shocked to learn of your leaving your position as coach of the Storm, but I understand that, like Urban Meyer, you are doing so to enable more time with your family. That is not surprising, since I"ve always felt that you had your priorities where they should be. Sometimes tough decisions like this are necessary for the greater good of such fine young boys as you and your wife are raising. I learned a good deal from your coaching and dedication. Keep in touch. Happy New Year.

Lon Forbes, Storm Season Ticket Holder.

I had the opportunity to attend a lot of Storm practices and Coach Concepcion was always teaching and would frequently stop practice to teach players how to improve their offensive/defensive skills. During Concepcion's tenure, I have watched the players improve and the team play better. The Storm benefited from your coaching, teaching, and leadership.

Happy New Year.

Wally Murphy, Storm Season Ticket Holder.