ESports Night: Ontario Clippers vs. College Park Skyhawks

On Saturday, January 27th, at the Gateway Center Arena, the College Park Skyhawks defeated the Ontario Clippers, with a final score of 109-96. The atmosphere was electric and filled with an amidst of energy from both teams bringing their A-game, with former Skyhawks player #17 Armoni Brooks playing with the Ontario Clippers. Despite Brooks being on fire with a stellar performance, the Skyhawks still showcased that great chemistry they’ve developed this entire season.

The team kicked off the first quarter with #4 Kobe Bufkin setting the tone for the team with consecutive smart decisions and back-to-back shots. The 20-year-old, is an Atlanta Hawks first-round draft pick, and has had an outstanding rookie season with the Skyhawks being the leading scorer averaging an impressive 22 points per game.

Skyhawks took over the second quarter, in the sold-out matchup, igniting the crowd with excitement, engagement, and full of energy after ending the first quarter down 25-31. The takeover first started with #7 Jarkel Joiner making an and1 play to tie the game at 33-33. Then with back-to-back complete possessions from #0 Miles Norris and #11 Tyson Etienne to bring the score up 39-35, further extending the Skyhawks lead. The team was wide awake after some breaking executions ending the first half 58-47. As the motion on the court came to form a full rollercoaster of possessions the team started to get steady as stars entered the building, such as Atlanta hawks players Clint Capela, Saddiq Bey, Onyeka Okongwu and Skyhawks Minority Owner, 2Chainz.

Going into the second half the team came back and had to re-up, losing the momentum a bit with the Ontario Clippers tying the score 58-58 at 8:00 minutes left in the third quarter. Despite a brief setback, #8 Emmitt Matthews had a hot execution three ball to retake the lead for the team, sparking gravitation for the skyhawks team as a whole, #30 Chris Silver stepping up to lead the team on the offensive end, and #0 Miles Norris killing defensive plays making it a block party. The chemistry was continuous with #1 Jarkel Joiner and #4 Kobe Bufkin on the court together bringing a variety of communication skills for the team keeping up the hustle and holding on to the lead, 82-69 to end the third quarter.

Tonight’s game execution was one to remember with ongoing breaking gravitational energy. Going into the fourth quarter, #7 Robert Baker led the team in offensive points, allowing his teammates to feel that energy to defeat the Ontario Clippers, ending the game 109-96.

In a post game interview, I was able to ask Coach Ryan Schmidt, What improvements will the team seek to improve for the match up on Monday to get a better performance? Coach Schmidt’s response emphasized the importance of being able to sustain more defensive stamina. The College park Skyhawks will match up against the Ontario Clippers in a two game series at the GateWay Center Arena on Monday, 29th at 7pm.