All-Army men and women fall to Navy

Both the men's and women's All-Army teams struggled against their All-Navy competitors in the opening night of the Armed Forces Basketball Championship at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Monday.
The men fell 96-73, and the women lost on a late-game slump, 72-61.

Army men
Thomas Hughes scored Army's first points of the game, the 2-0 lead being the only advantage the Soldiers had that night.

Navy's tenacity under the basket and trademark speed, coupled with repeated penalties on Army's side, spurred the Sailors to an insurmountable lead that went as high as 20 points several times in the first half.

At halftime, Navy was up 16 points, 52-36.

Army and Navy traded baskets out of the break, which did little to help the Soldiers' cause. Navy broke through the back-and-forth on the hot shooting of Paul Darkwa, who drained a three-pointer and followed up with a finger-roll at the basket to push the lead back to 20, 61-41.

Navy's offensive assault continued, leaving Army scrambling to take desperation shots in an attempt to cut into the lead. The Soldiers' shots continued to miss the mark, allowing Navy more chances to extend their dominance.

That dominance saw Navy go up 29 points before the game's final 23-point rout.

Army's Llewellyn Smalley led all Army scorers with 21 points on the night. Fort Belvoir's Lavoris Tate had five points for the Army effort.

Army women
Army's small, speedster lineup gave the taller All-Navy women a world of trouble in the opening minutes.

The All-Army women jumped to a quick 7-0 lead with a layup by Hillary Sell and five points from Shamyra Daigle.

A Navy timeout helped the team refocus enough to chip away at the Soldiers' early advantage, including a three-point play and trip to the free throw line that put the Sailors a point down, 21-20, with just over seven minutes to play.

Over the next minutes, the two teams tangled for the lead, tying four times, including a 33-all deadlock at intermission.

Navy's sharpshooters came out with a vengeance, firing from all sides of the floor. Kristen Bowen, who spent much of Thursday night shooting the lights out of Wells Field House against the WAMAC Elite, found her stroke again, hitting two 3-pointers over four minutes. Along with a bomb from Jen Schumacher, Navy jumped to a 52-41 lead.

Army soldiered on, relying on the speed that had incited their initial run. Aquanita Burras' shot beyond the arc started an 8-3 Army run and helped the Soldiers close the gap to 57-54.

The Soldiers would have to settle for the three-point shortfall. Navy opened up an offensive run of its own, outscoring Army 12-4 over the next three minutes. Burras landed another late-game three to pull within 10, but the Sailors held on for the victory.

Dionne Brown's 12 points led the Soldiers for the evening, while Burras followed with 10 on the night.