| By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
3/16- In a game that proved Ben-Gay and Tylenol go only so far the Middle School Boys (Kids Rule) roared from behind in a fourth quarter that seemed to last forever to forge a 49-49 tie with the Middle School Dads and Coaches (Ben-Gay Brigade) Saturday night at the school.
The Dads, using a great size advantage - both horizontally and vertically - jumped on top early and threatened to make it a runaway, and probably would have had they been able to hit lay ups and other close shots.
Had they been able to do that they would probably have won by 40.
But they weren't and they didn't.
Calhoun Middle School coach Jimmy Gregory led the Ben-Gay Brigade with 13 points, many of which he never saw go in as he launched shots - many shots - from everywhere on the court.
He was even helped by a theft of his doo-rag which caused many defenders to be hit by temporary blindness from the glare of the reflection of the gym lights.
Jake "Body By Jake" Yanero, a ringer brought in from Braxton County, was next with 12 points.
The dads were hit by a plethora of fouls - technical and otherwise - which kept the score close in the early part of the game.
In the latter part of the game, as the Ben-Gay and Tylenol started wearing off and they merely just grabbed the kids when playing defense to keep them from fast breaking.
Overall, the dads were whistled for 20 fouls while the boys were called for, er, none?
Oh, wait, there was one foul called against the boys ...
Another thing that slowed the dads down was the hatchet job the boys were allowed to do on Jerry "Jump Jerry" Jones Sr. on the inside.
Many times he was grabbed by five, six, seven players when he skied for a rebound of tried to power in a shot. He was held to two points before fouling out.
Other dads added to the total as Jake Carder had six, Tom Yanero four, Denny Fox four, Tom Collins four and Buck Marks and Jay Blair two each. Assistant Middle School coach Jeremy Johnson did not score but he did present a formidable obstacle when he set his famous "panavision (wide) screen" on offense.
Trevor Carder led the boys team with 11 while Zack Yanero had eight and Chris Thornton seven.
Christopher Kirkland was the favorite target of the dad's "goon squad" as he was hacked, slammed, banged and hammered.
He went to the foul line 10 times and hit either three or nine, depending on where the six missing points the boys team had. If he hit nine, he ended the game with 11. If he hit three, it was five. It would explain where the six phantom points came from that appeared on the scoreboard as the buzzer sounded.
The question arises since Christopher's father Joe Taylor was keeping the scorebook and perhaps did not want to seem too braggadocio thereby leaving some of the free throw spots blank.
David Jones had four while Soney Wilson added three, Ben Frederick and Buck Marks two each and Jerry Jones Jr. one. "Action Jackson" Taylor, Levi Gregory and player-coaches Sam Brady and Mason Carder did not score.
After taking a year to recuperate the dads may resume the series against the boys at the end of next year's CMS basketball season.
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