It wasn't your typical Milwaukee King-Milwaukee Vincent boys basketball game at Vincent, Jan. 8. The star presence from both teams was missing, unless you include Marquette signee Deonte Burton from Vincent and Austin Malone-Mitchell from King. There were multiple stars from the teams in the past with Div. I scholarships already in their back pockets.
Both teams entered their contest with a 2-0 record in the City Conference. It's a shame that they only meet once a year. The Vikings took this year's rivalry with a 69-60 win.
What was billed as a showdown became a one-sided advantage for Vincent. It took all the might they had to hold off the Generals, who didn't have a starter over 6-foot-2. It doesn't matter which gym they play in because it will always be a packed house.
The lead went back and forth in the first quarter with Vincent holding a 12-11 lead, but both teams could've scored more points if not for the sloppiness on both ends of the court. And the out of control action wasn't chalked up to nerves.
Burton and Malone-Mitchell did what they could to keep their teams in front. The Generals were up four points early in the first half and the Vikings came roaring back to take a 29-28 lead into the locker room.
The breakaway dunk by Burton started the second half scoring for Vincent, and they didn't look back. Bad shooting by King and an 11-0 run by the Vikings left the Generals in shock almost halfway through the third quarter, looking up at a 40-28 deficit, eventually going into the fourth quarter down 13 at 47-34.
Leave it to Malone-Mitchell to intensify the rivalry a little bit, even if his teammates weren't caught up in the action. There was some jawing and a little shoving and some one-on-one shooting between Burton and Malone-Mitchell. The officials had to stay within inches of the two.
Malone-Mitchell was trying to fire up the troops and get the Generals back into the game before they were ready to wave the white flag. You can never accuse any of King coach Jim Gosz teams, no matter how undersized they are, of giving up.
If there was a rematch, it would've been more intense and drama-fueled than this game. King was ready to play for about 3 1/2 quarters, and no one else on that team besides Malone-Mitchell had that mean mug look on their faces and that warrior mentality.
So far, Vincent has the inside track on the conference title and they still have to play Milwaukee Riverside at home, Jan. 18 and at Hamilton, Feb. 15. They are sitting pretty in the conference with a 3-0 record and 10-1 overall while King fell to 2-1 and 9-3. Don't be surprised if the Generals lose their No. 2 area ranking next week and the Vikings move up from No. 4 to No. 2 and leapfrogging Milwaukee Hamilton, who sits at No. 3.
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