Patroons, Phoenix pulverize Pennsylvania pros in pair

Okay, everybody. Follow along with me, because this is kinda complicated.

Originally last weekend’s schedule would have seen the Albany Patroons play a home game against the Reading Rebels on Friday night, then travel Saturday to New Jersey to take on the Jersey Shore Breaks. However … that plan got slightly adjusted, with the Patroons / Reading game still on schedule, but the Patroons-at-Jersey Shore game getting relocated to Sunday afternoon – and thus, postponing my Sunday recap of the Route 5 Rivalry games to today.

Meanwhile, the New York Phoenix were scheduled for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader, with Friday’s game against the Rochester Kingz, and Saturday evening would host the Reading Rebels.

But … the Rochester Kingz have collapsed like Louis XIV in the French Revolution. And that means the Jersey Shore Breaks now have to travel to Schenectady at the last minute for a Friday night game. Word on the street was that apparently a fight broke out at one of Rochester’s home games, which meant that the Kingz lost the rights to play at their high school home court, and with no other place to play, the Kingz are now a glorified travel team until further notice.

Welcome to the TBL, where schedules (and some franchises) are written in pencil, and erasers are close at hand.

But let’s actually focus on the pro teams that KNOW what they’re doing, shall we?

We will start with the currently unbeaten New York Phoenix, who remain unbeaten (6-0) with a punishing 135-92 win over the visiting Jersey Shore Breaks last Friday night. Shadell Millinghaus led the red and black in scoring with 25 points; he also dished out 7 assists, pulled down 6 boards, and had three steals. Millinghaus was one of seven Phoenix players to score in double figures in the victory.

Meanwhile, the Albany Patroons continue to stay at the Phoenix’s heels, as they dominated the Reading Rebels on Friday night 126-92. Trahson Burrell had 27 points and 9 rebounds, along with four steals and four blocked shots; while Derrick Rowland Jr. garnered 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for Albany. The game’s boxscore can be found here.

The Rebels next traveled up Route 5 to Schenectady, where they tried to hold their own against the New York Phoenix, and for a while it was actually pretty close. Reading was only behind 32-27 in the first quarter … and then the Phoenix took off, outscoring the Berks County crew 39-23 in the second quarter, and finishing out the game with a 45-29 run en route to a 151-114 triumph to go to 7-0, while the Rebels limp back home with an 0-8 seasonal mark. The game’s boxscore can be found here. In the Phoenix’ big win, Shadell Millinghaus and Arsenio Arrington led with 25 and 22 points, respectively, while AJ Mosby’s 18 points were augmented with a team-high nine assists.

So right now the Phoenix are officially 7-0 and perched atop the TBL’s North Atlantic Division, while the Patroons are in second place with a sweet 5-1 record. Albany has two games upcoming – a home-and-away series against the Jersey Shore Breaks, before both Capital District squads face off in the second match of their four-game “Route 5 Rivalry” series at Armory Studios NY on Friday, April 4.

Can not wait. Let’s go.