by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
UNM basketball fans were treated to a night of high-flying dunks, scrimmages and a 3-point shootout Friday night at The Pit.
A showdown above the rim took place between juniors Tony Danridge and J.R.
Giddens.
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Danridge put together three ferocious dunks. Giddens countered with three rim-shaking dunks of his own, but in the end, Danridge won with what the announcer called the "stick-your-hand-in-the-cookie-jar dunk," by putting his elbow in the net and hanging from the rim.
Danridge said he didn't put much thought into the contest before it took place.
"It's just for the fans, and they come out here to see it," he said. "Some of those dunks, I just tried. I didn't practice anything before tonight. I just kind of put it together before I stepped on the court, and I got real warm and put it up there."
Women's assistant coach Yvonne Sanchez said playing in front of a crowd - 4,081 fans attended the event - helps the players get a feel for what it's like to play at The Pit during the regular season.
"I think they've heard about the crowds here, and it gives them a chance to experience it and see it," Sanchez said. "The first exhibition game they will probably still be nervous, but it gives them a good opportunity to see what the crowd is all about."
The highlight of the women's night was the 3-point shootout. Senior Katie Montgomery and junior Brandi Kimble faced off in the final round with Montgomery coming out on top with 21 3-pointers to Kimble's 19.
The night was also filled with scrimmages, including the Lobo men's coaching staff versus former players in the alumni game.
Head coach Ritchie McKay started the game by hitting a long 3-pointer. The coaches then went on a 10-2 run before the altitude must have gotten to them.
The alumni made a comeback behind Greg Brown and Lance Milford, who pitched in 12 points each for a 55-46 victory.
Giddens said it was fun to watch his coaches play and see how their stamina would hold up.
"I thought that was cool to see the coaches get out there, and they're all very talented," Giddens said. "We hear them talking stuff all the time, so we're going to go up there and give them a hard time and tell them that they're out of shape because they love making us run. They got to see it from the other side tonight."
In the women's alumni game, former Lobos Chelsea Grear, Jordan Adams and Mandi Moore Stovall each contributed eight points to lead the Silver team to a
41-21 win.
In the women's Cherry vs. Silver Scrimmage, Montgomery won the game for the Silver squad on a putback with 17 seconds left for a 26-25 victory. She led the team with 11 points. Kimble led the Cherry team with 13 points.
Freshman Eileen Weissmann said the team came together to play with poise and chemistry.
"Things went well. We've been playing together for a while now," she said. "We tried to make the teams as even as we could, which they turned out to be. Everyone did really good, and everyone was working and shooting well, but most of all, we had fun."
In the men's Cherry vs. Silver Scrimmage, players switched teams at halftime. Giddens started out on the Silver squad and helped it to a 23-15 halftime lead. He then jumped on the Cherry team and assisted in a 41-39 come-from-behind win. Giddens led all scorers with 22 points.
Senior Aaron Johnson, who was introduced by McKay as "Big Sexy," "The People's Champ" and "Alfred the Butler," said he and Giddens make for a good one-two punch.
"I enjoyed playing with J.R.," Johnson said. "I love seeing how good of a scorer he is. He's unbelievable, so he helps me a lot, and I help him a lot. I can't wait for us to get out there with Tony and everybody and just kill it."
McKay said the team is on track considering it hasn't had the opportunity to practice every day. The offense is playing at a high level, but defensively the team isn't ready, he said.
"This is a work in progress," McKay said. "We haven't had back-to-back practices yet, so we have a long way to go. But I like our group, the work ethic and our spirit of cooperation. We're ahead of ourselves offensively, and we got a lot to do defensively."
