Hustle “educate” Magic in Education Day kids’ game
Photo: Yuki Kawamura (7) of the Memphis Hustle shoots over an Osceola Magic defender during the Wednesday Education Day kids’ game at the Landers Center (Mary Scott/Oak River Media for desotocountynews.com)
The Memphis Hustle sent 4,346 screaming kids back to school happy Wednesday morning with a 123-118 Education Day victory over the Osceola Magic. The mid-morning tip off marked the first of two day games on the schedule where youngsters are invited to come watch the Hustle play in person.
Hustle coach T.C. Swirsky said the early routine is tough on coaches and players, but he liked the execution his Hustle brought.
“You’re getting up so early in the morning, so you never know what kind of effort you’re going to get,” Swirsky said. “But, our guys really played hard. We brought some physicality, and played super fast, so I was really happy with that, and when we needed to execute down the stretch, we did.”
The first quarter was played at a frenetic pace with the Hustle outscoring Osceola 40-36 by the end of the quarter.
“At the beginning we were kind of figuring it out a little bit,” said Hustle two-way center Colin Castleton. “They (Magic) are a fast team, a good team that gets up and down quickly. Being able to match their energy a little bit and come out here with an early game was the biggest thing for us.”
Osceola recovered a bit in the second quarter to take a one-point lead into the locker room at 67-66, but coming out for the second half, the Hustle took control, leading by as much as 14 points in the half before the Magic started to the chip away at the lead, eventually tying the contest at 115 with 1:34 left. A pair of Castleton free throws put the Hustle ahead 117-115 and then Lucas Williamson hit a three-pointer for a 120-115 edge with 37 seconds remaining. A Miles Norris slam put an exclamation mark on the 123-118 victory.
For the game, the Hustle shooters were close to deadly, hitting 50.6 percent from the floor and 43.2 percent from three-point land.
Swirsky credited the team’s hot shooting performance to his players putting in the work.
“We’ve had some time here to really get a lot of work done individually and guys are developing,” Swirsky said. “Our coaches are giving them a lot of confidence and they should have confidence to let it fly.”
Castleton led seven Hustle players in double figures with 26 points. Playing just his second game with the Hustle, Swirsky said Castleton played a huge role in the victory.
“Defensively, he did a good job in the second half, rebounding and just being a rim protector for us,” Swirsky said. “He continued to finish around the basket, fight through some contact, and really ran the floor.”
Castleton, a former Florida Gator, said he is enjoying being able to play with the Hustle.
“I was a two-way player last year, so I kind of understand the gist of it, going back and forth with different teams and stuff,” Castleton said. “It’s just a good opportunity for me.”
In addition to Castleton, the Hustle had Norris (19), Robert Woodard II (17), Yuki Kawamura (15), Race Thompson (15), Armando Bacot (11) and Williamson (11) hitting double digits for the win.
Forward Trevelin Queen led Osceola in scoring with 22 points.
Memphis improved to 2-3 with the victory, while Osceola dropped to 1-4 in the Tip Off Tournament, which continues Friday in a rematch of the two teams at the Landers Center, starting at 7 p.m.
