As a powerful storm wreaked havoc outside and left more than a million people without power, there was no shortage of energy in the King County Royals as they earned their first win of the season Thursday night, defeating the Fresno Heatwave, 116-101, in an American Basketball Association contest at the Wellness Center at North Seattle Community College.
The two teams played evenly through the first 12 minutes, with the Royals gaining an early 29-27 advantage, thanks to 13 first quarter points by guard Randy Green.
King County (1-3) was able to extend their lead to double digits on two separate occasions in the second quarter, before settling for a 59-52 lead going into halftime after guard Kyle Keyes nailed a three-pointer as the quarter ended.
The third quarter saw King County push its lead to 18 points with 2:12 to play in the period, before Fresno went on a 8-0 run the rest of the way to pull the margin back to ten at 87-77.
The fourth quarter proved to be very spirited, as Fresno (3-6) was able to trim the deficit to one on a Mark Maxwell lay-in with 5:48 to play. But after that, the Heatwave ran out of gas as King County was able to finish the game with a 16-2 run to secure the victory.
Fresno was playing its third game in three nights, as they finished their Washington state road trip 0-3. Their other two losses on the trip came Tuesday and Wednesday against the Bellingham Slam.
The Royals were led by dynamic performances from Green and Keyes, who scored 34 and 28 points, respectively. The duo led five King County players in double figures.
Fresno was led by forward Edward Walden's 22 points. The Heatwave received excellent play from its two centers, Maxwell and Doug Whittler, who scored 19 and 11 points, respectively, and also combined for 20 rebounds.
The Royals return to action this Sunday, Dec. 17 as they look to start a win streak against the Bellingham Slam. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Wellness Center at North Seattle Community College.
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American Basketball Association - Official Game Box Score
King County Royals vs. Fresno Heatwave of Sacramento
Date: 12/14/2006 Time: 8:00 PM Attendance: 50
Site: Wellness Center at North Seattle C.C. - Seattle, WA
Visitors: Fresno Heatwave of Sacramento (3-6) REBOUNDS
## Name P FG 3Pt FT PTS OF DF TR PF AS TO BS ST MIN
2 Derek Foster G 3/19 2/14 4/4 12 1 3 4 4 1 3 0 2 33
5 *Jamal Joseph G 3/9 3/6 2/2 11 1 4 5 5 3 3 0 1 34
6 Justin White G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 3
13 Takuya Okada G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
21 Kenji Kurasawa G 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
24*Richard Blowe F 2/4 1/1 0/0 5 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 11
25 Dean Brown F 1/2 0/0 0/0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9
32 Sam Byrd F 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 0 2 2 3 0 1 0 0 5
33*Edward Walden F 8/18 2/5 4/5 22 3 4 7 3 4 2 0 0 48
34 Mark Maxwell C 8/15 0/0 3/8 19 8 1 9 3 2 1 0 0 36
42*Doug Whittler C 4/7 0/1 3/6 11 7 4 11 2 2 0 0 1 34
44*Justin Johnson G 8/18 2/8 0/0 18 3 1 4 6 0 1 0 1 28
Team 1 5 2 7 2
Totals 37/93 10/35 17/26 101 29 25 54 26 12 14 0 6 240
Total FG 1st Half 19/40 47.5% 2nd Half 18/53 34.0% Game 37/93 39.8%
3 PT FG 1st Half 4/14 28.6% 2nd Half 6/21 28.6% Game 10/35 28.6%
Total FT 1st Half 10/12 83.3% 2nd Half 7/14 50.0% Game 17/26 65.4%
Home: King County Royals (1-3) REBOUNDS
## Name P FG 3Pt FT PTS OF DF TR PF AS TO BS ST MIN
33 Wale Adeyemi F 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
2 *Kyle Keyes G 11/22 4/7 2/4 28 3 2 5 3 7 3 0 4 37
20*Randy Green G 12/22 5/12 5/6 34 2 4 6 1 3 0 0 4 36
34 Shamon Antrum G 2/3 2/3 3/4 9 3 0 3 5 2 1 1 2 23
21*
