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Also, if you make it to a Cap City game, feel free to post your thoughts on what you see.

Fortunately for those fans, each game was well contested. Here’s a wrap up:

Coca-Cola 112, Peak Performance 109

With the score at 51-46 at the half, the first installment of Monday’s competition was set to be a close one. The joy of the Cap City League for players seems to be that they can experiment with styles, plays and ideas that their coaches would never let them try during the regular season. In this case, both teams began fouling with about seven minutes left in the second half–well before the typical coach will take that step.

With about 5:12 left to play, Iowa State freshman guard Chris Colvin (Peak) drew a foul on a nice looking layup down the middle of the lane. Some free throws would have ended the deal, but Colvin and his defender got into a tiff after play stopped, and Colvin was ejected from the game.

ISU freshman Antwon Oliver (Peak) blocked a layup by sophomore Scott Christopherson (Coke), which Christopherson didn’t like much.

Perhaps the best performance of the game came from UNC-Central guard Ashton Sauls (Coke). DMACC’s Tavaryns Gray attempted a reverse layup but missed, and Sauls appeared out of nowhere with a put-back dunk to make it 95-89 Coke. Christopherson found him for a jumper soon after, but Oliver hit a three to stay in the game.

Coke lead 109-104 when ICCC’s Jacob Petersen (Peak) hit a 3-point shot with .7 seconds remaining, and a foul simultaneously called against one of the Coke players. DMACC’s Tyler Stumme sunk both free throws, and the game was tied with .7 seconds to play.

With overtime seemingly certain, Sauls chucked a shot from beyond half court as the buzzer sounded. It went in, and Coke won 112-109.

Statistical highlights:

Coke: Sauls 32 points, 6 rebounds. Christopherson 23 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists. Jordan Clarke (Drake) 23 points, 14 rebounds. Gray 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists.

Peak: Colvin 15 points, 8 assists. Antwon Oliver 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Heemskerk 23 points, 15 rebounds. Alex Dorr (ISU) 15 points, 4 rebounds. Stumme 13 points.

Capital City Orthopaedics 118, Medical Oncology & Hematology 111

The MOHA-Ortho game was again typical of most basketball games: the real action only happened in the second half. We start, therefore, with ISU’s Jamie Vanderbeken (MOHA) hitting a nice 3-pointer with 8:45 to play, closing Ortho’s lead to 90-84. Unfortunately for JVB, it took MOHA about 45 seconds to build its lead back to 11 points.

ISU’s Diante Garrett (MOHA) drew a foul with 3:32 to go, and split his free throws to make the score 106-103.

Sadly for DG, ISU teammate L.A. Pomlee closed the game on a roll. Pomlee (Ortho) posted up on the next possession, though, followed it up with a turnaround jumper and recorded the assist on a 3-pointer by Drake’s Ryan Wedel to give Ortho a 113-105 advantage. Then he kicked it out to William Penn’s Kris Miller for a 3-pointer at the one minute mark. ISU freshman Bubu Palo tried for a steal but couldn’t get his hand on the ball, then fouled to stop the clock with 23.5 seconds left and a 5-point margin. Wedel made both free throws to seal the win.

Statistical highlights:

Ortho: Miller 37 points, 5 rebounds. Pomlee 23 points, 9 rebounds. Scott Windom (DMACC) 23 points, 7 rebounds. Wedel 18 points, 5 assists. Ryan Sears (Creighton) 7 assists. David Smith (Drake) 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals.

MOHA: Garrett 37 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists. Vanderbeken 11 points, 6 rebounds. Nick Grant (Drake) 15 points, 8 rebounds. Bill Freeman (Ellsworth CC) 16 points, 6 rebounds. Palo 14 points, 4 assists. Miller 11 rebounds. DeAnthony Zanders (SW Minn State) 10 rebounds, 6 assists.

Granite Transformations 87, YMCA 86

ISU’s Dominique Buckley (YMCA) got things started with a steal and a layup early in the first half. ISU’s Marquis Gilstrap (YMCA)missed a pair of consecutive jumpers–no doubt because of the great defense of Charles Boozer (Granite)–but quickly got things turned around it what proved to be a great outing for the rookie/senior. Gilstrap found ISU’s LaRon Dendy for an ally-oop with 15 minutes left in the first half, starting a string of good plays by the pair.

Ames High’s Doug McDermott (Granite) finally got the call after multiple put-back attempts with about 7:45 to play, and sunk both free throws to cut YMCA’s lead to seven points. Dendy tried to find Gilstrap for a layup at the buzzer, but it was no good and the score stayed at 45-45 going into halftime.

Dendy had a layup to start the second half, but missed a 3-point shot on the next possession. He got a tip in on a missed layup by Dominique Buckley the next time down the court, and Gilstrap followed it with a layup of his own.

Later in the second half Dendy was trapped down low, looking for a heavily guarded Buckley to bail him out. Not seeing Buckley or any other option, he turned and hit a jump shot under pressure. Drake’s Ben Simmons found college teammate Josh Young (Granite) for a layup to tie the game at 59-59 with about 13 minutes to play.

Shortly after that Dendy posted up on McDermott, then decided to design a play on the fly. The play didn’t really work out, but YMCA scored on the reset. Dendy had a put-back to take a 78-77 lead with six minutes to go.

ISU’s Justin Hamilton (Granite) dunked inside the final minute to take a 87-86 lead, and despite Gilstrap’s attempt at a jumper just before the horn, that remained the final score.

Statistical highlights:

Granite: Young 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. Matt Schneiderman (former UNI) 15 points, 10 rebounds. McDermott 6 points, 8 rebounds.

YMCA: Gilstrap 31 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists. Dendy 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists. Buckley 10 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists. Smith 7 rebounds. Andrew Dau (Simpson) 8 rebounds.

Capital City Orthopaedics 99, Coca-Cola 97

In the interest of full disclosure, I was driving back from Chicago on Sunday and missed most of the first game. So my information comes from the stat sheet and what I was told by the players and onlookers I spoke to after the game.

Capital City Orthopaedics (ISU’s L.A. Pomlee, Drake’s Ryan Wedel, David Smith and Alex White) took a 99-97 win against Coca-Cola (ISU’s Scott Christopherson and half current and former Drake student body). Wedel scored 30 points for CCO, while Pomlee added 20 points, 6 rebounds, and what I’m told was a monster block. Pomlee also showed off his dunking skills throughout the game, which I’m sure ISU fans will be glad to hear are intact following his redshirt season. Creighton’s Ryan Sears had 7 assists and 4 steals that game.

Former Drake start Adam Emmenecker had what looks like the strongest overall game for Coca-Cola, scoring 19 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. Drake’s Jordan Clarke had 19 points and Christopherson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, but former Drake player Andre Calvin dominated with 32 points.

Granite Transformations 102, Peak Performance 84

At times Drake guard Josh Young looked like the most serious player on the court, and it paid off, as he led Granite Transformations with 21 points. Drake’s Ben Simons scored 17, while ISU’s Justin Hamilton made his Cap City season debut with 13 points and nine rebounds. Ames High senior Doug McDermott seemed frustrated with his shooting at points, but finished as a team leader with 18 points, seven rebounds and an assist.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the game—which really wasn’t much of a game, as Granite held on to a significant lead for about 30 minutes of the 40-minute contest—was watching McDermott match up against incoming Iowa State walk-on Alex Dorr. The two looked pretty even on the court; Dorr finished with 17 points. ISU’s Chris Colvin had six points and five assists despite playing on a pulled leg muscle; teammate Antwon Oliver is still nursing a sprained ankle but finished with four rebounds and four assists. Drake’s Seth Van Deest had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Hamilton looked good overall; maybe the best way to put it is that he was less sloppy than the way a lot of other guys play in this league. Just solid post ups and a nice second-chance bucket in the second half which he turned into a 3-point play. Charles Boozer had a couple of good 3-pointers, finishing with 12 points. And Drake’s Brent Heemskerk Van Deest had a nice pair of back-to-back buckets for Peak that helped close the gap late in the first half.

YMCA, Medical Oncology & Hematology

With Marquis Gilstrap, Adam Templeton, LaRon Dendy, Craig Stanley and Dominique Buckley on the roster, The YMCA team controlled this one from the start, which seemed to frustrate the heck out of MOHA’s Diante Garrett. Garrett had a really good game, and finished with 32 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. ISU center Jamie Vanderbeken was MIA, but Drake’s Nick Grant scored 21 poins and Bill Freeman from Ellsworth Community College added 13. Bubu Palo had a great shot at the halftime buzzer, which closed YMCA’s lead to just six points.

On the winning side, Dendy finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Gilstrap added 27 points. Ellsworth’s Damon Smith had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Buckley finished with four rebounds and eight assists.

NOTES: Wednesday’s games will begin at 5:30 at Valley High School, NOT Valley Southwoods…In case anyone was wondering, the rosters handed out at the games incorrectly list Matt Schneiderman as having ISU affiliations. Schneiderman played for ISU coach Greg McDermott at UNI.

Here are links to a couple stories on the Capital City League.

First, I have a story in today’s Tribune on the start of the season last night:

http://www.gocyclones.com/news.php?ID=1627

Also, Mo Kelley from the Boone News-Republican had a short piece on the DMACC basketball players who will be competing this summer:

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab3.cfm?newsid=20332117&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554372&rfi=6

I have to admit, I’ve talked to each of Iowa State’s newcomers before, but Wednesday I found myself standing in front of a group of unfamiliar faces mixed with current ISU players asking “OK, who are my new guys?”

Thank goodness there’s still plenty of time before basketball season starts.

I was excited to see just what the newest Cyclones would do on the opening night of the Capital City League, and I was impressed with their performances just days after arriving in Ames. Marquis Gilstrap scored 22 points to lead his team, “YMCA,” which ultimately lost to Scott Christopherson and Coca-Cola by a score of 98-85. Chistopherson had 15 points.

The other truly impressive newcomer was freshman point guard Chris Colvin, who was taken by Peak Performance with the draft’s No. 3 pick. Colvin scored 18 points while running the court with ease just days after graduating from Chicago’s Whitney Young High School.

The rookies weren’t the only ones to have good nights. Charles Boozer, who was stellar in last season’s Cap City League, scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Granite Transformations’ 100-81 win against Medical Oncology & Hematology Association (or MOHA, as it says on the jerseys). Dominique Buckley scored 19 points for YMCA, Diante Garrett had 22 for MOHA and Jamie Vanderbeken added 10 for MOHA.

Antwon Oliver was the only new ISU player who did not compete; he attended Wednesday’s games and sat on the bench with his Peak Performance teammates but did not participate. Center Justin Hamilton was not in attendance, although ISU coach Greg McDermott stopped by briefly to watch his son, Doug, who is playing in the league. And Ames High’s Harrison Barnes is scheduled to play for Peak Performance, but is in Virginia participating in the NBA Players Association camp.

Tomorrow’s Tribune will have a full story on the start of the Cap City League. Look for some interviews with the newcomers in Friday’s paper. And I’ll have an OT with Chris Colvin—who attended a very cool party recently—sometime Thursday.

Hopefully that will hold everyone over until Sunday’s round of games.

Greetings Mid-Iowa basketball fans!

Last summer the Tribune got such a great response from our coverage of the Capital City League, we’ve decided to expand things a little bit. So this new site–which you can conveniently locate from gocyclones.com–is here to provide Iowa State and Drake basketball fans with offseason updates on just how their favorite players are doing. With three members of the 2008-09 Ames High basketball team participating this summer, I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the big prep players, as well.

I’ll post photos, videos, interviews with different athletes and all kinds of good stuff. Oh, and results, too.This summer I may also be tweeting from Cap City League, so if you’re on Twitter follow me @cycloneovertime.

We plan to be at every game, so look back here for updates from each day of competition. Cap City League games are free and open to the public, so definitely plan to stop by Valley or Valley Southwoods once in a while to see the action. Just make sure to double check the schedule to see at which campus the competition will be held.

A few notes before heading down to Southwoods for opening night. Cyclones basketball players Dominique Buckley, Scott Christopherson and L.A. Pomlee are not listed on rosters, but I’m told all three plan on playing. I’ll add them once I know which teams they are on. In the past there has been a little shakeup to the rosters on the first night, so I will made adjustments and add numbers as those things become available.

If you think anything is missing from our Cap City coverage, be sure to post a comment, email me at clinehan@amestrib.com or send me a message on Twitter. And if you make it to a game, come say hi!

Courtney