Hawks claw their way to history Published April 26, 2011 By Senior Airman Anne Gathua 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Goodfellow men's varsity basketball team was near the bottom of the barrel going into its end-of-season tournament earlier this month. But they came out of the tournament feeling like they could take on the world. The Hawks snagged three unexpected victories to notch a third-place finish at the basketball tournament held at Lackland Air Force Base, April 16-17. Goodfellow was ranked seventh out of the nine-team conference going into the double-elimination tournament. They had their hands full with Fort Sill in their first-round game. The Hawks fell behind the Cannoneers early and couldn't make up the deficit, losing 82-71. The loss put them in the tournament losers' bracket, which makes for an extremely long day of basketball. The team knew it had to win four games just to reach the championship match. One loss, and they would be eliminated. With their backs against the wall, the Hawks bared their talons and went to work. In the next game, they faced a scrappy team from Whiteman AFB, Mo. The Hawks jumped out to an early 20-point lead in the first half, but Whiteman erased the deficit with hot three-point shooting. Led by Corey Pasley, Sharad White, Jamal Anene, Travis Wallace, Andre Snowden and the "bench mob," the Hawks locked down on defense and came away with a 110-108 triple-overtime victory. Next up was the team from Tinker AFB, Okla. However, Tinker failed to show on time, giving the Hawks the forfeit victory. Goodfellow continued its momentum in the third-round contest against the Fort Sam Houston Rangers. The Hawks were able to make easy work of them, winning 94-78. This victory placed them in the semifinals, a place they had never been before. In the semifinals, they face the number 1 seeded team Fort Bliss. The Hawks jumped out to an early lead, and led by eight points at halftime. But the second half was another story. Fort Bliss seemingly could not miss a shot, and the Hawks finally came up short. "The Hawks played great defense, but good offense always beats good defense," said Hawks head coach Jamal Mikell. Mikell was proud of his team's never-say-die effort. "The heart and sacrifice they showed throughout the season was phenomenal," Mikell said. "We have done something that Goodfellow has never done before. To go from always being in last place to finishing third overall is a huge accomplishment. I wish I had a camera so I could've captured the look on the faces on teams that looked down on us because of past seasons." Mikell thanked Reginald Wilder, team co-coach and members of his team, their families and co-workers for a successful season and "for making history for Goodfellow AFB." "They were one game from making it to the national tournament which would've been another first for the Hawks," Mikell said. "Maybe next year, they can put together another good team and make another run at it. It was great season and way to put Goodfellow AFB basketball on the map." Members of the Goodfellow Hawks: Tory Donato Andre Snowden Tim Harris Sharad White Doran Gilstrap Travis Wallace Vince Campanale Ryan Johnson Corey Pasley Jamal Anene Moshe Dawkins Andre Golden
