The Bingo All Stars will look a little different for most of the summer. Coach Maxwell (Bingo) Cole and seven of his players from of one of streetball’s most recognizable squads are touring overseas with Team Nike this month.
With Cole, Anthony Glover and Antwan (Anti-Freeze) Dobie, among others, in London the Bingo All Stars had new coaches and a different-looking roster for its first two games at Hoops in the Sun at Orchard Beach in The Bronx. Longtime members Lee Church and Will Cadiz with split the coaching duties when they are not playing from here on out until Cole, one of streetballs most respected figures, gets back from a three-city stop overseas against a variety of all-star teams.
“It’s the same thing,” Church said. “We have the same focus. We have a couple of people filling for the missing pieces of the puzzle. We just try to come out and do the same thing we are supposed to do.”
The Bingo All-Stars split its two games this weekend. They beat Sharing Success on two late free throws by Stefan Malliet with 4.7 seconds left but fell, 75-72, to rival R2K in a rematch of last year’s final, won by Bingo. Anthony Cox led Bingo with 21 points and Rome Jones had 12. Kirk Williams paced R2K with 20 points. Damian Hyman added 14 and Aaron (The Problem) Williams had 11.
“We lost this game,” said Church, a former star at Boys & Girls. “We gave this game away. We beat ourselves down the streatch.”
He said it’s tribute to Cole that players are willing to come help and play for the program while he is gone. For instance, Courtney Castro and Gage Blade came out on Sunday. Hoops in the Sun is the primary concern for them along with EBC Rucker. Before leaving for Europe, Cole didn’t seem worried about the state of his team in his absence.
“I have plenty of players,” Cole said. “They will play while I’m gone. They will hold it down. I told them, ‘Just make sure I get to the playoffs.’”
Rosedale Trailblazers 85, Silva All Stars 83: Scott Machado beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to give Rosedale the dramatic win. The former Iona guard scored 18 points. Kyle Hunt led all scorers with 30 points and former West Virginia guard Darryl (Truck) Bryant chipped in 10. Sharon Rics paced Silva with 23 points, Aubin Scott had 18 and Derek Bell added 15.
Sharing Success 69, Team Rockaway 67: Will Pratt poured in 37 points and Gary Ervin had 11 for Sharing Success. Kareem Corprew tallied 28 points for Team Rockaway.