Stockton Kings guard Dennis Dexter (9) shakes hands with forward Skal Labissiere (8) as they took on Rip City Remix at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton on Fri Dec 13, 2024 (Stockton Kings X photo)
By William Espy
STOCKTON–The Stockton Kings (8-3) hosted the struggling Rip City Remix (3-9) on Friday night. Stockton outlasted Rip City with a 127-119 win at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton.
Stockton got out to a great start, going on a 10-0 run to start the game. After a timeout, Rip City started getting some momentum back on their side with three quick threes, to make it 10-9. James Bouknight had a highlight reel play to give the Remix their first lead of the night. He stole the ball and pulled out a windmill dunk on the breakaway.
Rip City was 7-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first half of the quarter, while Stockton was 5-for-5. Neither team missed a three in the opening minutes, Drew Timme broke the streak with about 5:30 remaining in the first.
At the end of the first, the Kings led 36-33. Bouknight had 11 points at that point, the most of either team. Dexter Dennis led the Kings with 9. Meanwhile the league’s top scorer, Bryce McGowens had 7.
The second quarter was less offensive than the first. Both teams were missing more shots, and were more responsible defensively. Turnovers were plaguing the Kings, as they were into the double digits less than halfway into the second quarter. By the end of the quarter though, Rip City would find themselves in a similar situation with nine turnovers of their own.
At the half, Henri Drell was the Remix’s top scorer with 16, and his efficiency beyond the arc was great as well. He was 4-6 from three. Stockton’s offense was running through Dennis, who had 16 points and four assists. On the scoreboard, it was 61-55 in favor of the home team.
The Kings would continue to extend their lead in the third quarter and after 36 minutes it was 92-83 for Stockton. Starting the final frame, Rip City came right out of the gate with a full-court press trying to force even more turnovers. The Kings had cleaned that aspect of their game up though, only turning over the ball once in the third quarter.
The Remix weren’t going to make the final quarter an easy one for Stockton. They kept it within single digits, and occasionally brought it within a single possession. Stockton obviously wasn’t going to relent either though, they kept fighting and maintained the lead through hard work both offensively and defensively.
They were forcing turnovers and hitting shots, but still couldn’t pull away. Once it got into the final couple of minutes though, Stockton got their lead to double digits for the first time in quite a while. As the clock continued to run down, Rip City was slowly cutting into that lead once again.
It would end up being too little too late though, as they’d have to start fouling allowing the Kings to extend their lead. The Kings walked away with a 127-119 win, extending their winning streak at home to five games.
Dennis scored 31, while Terry Taylor and Isaiah Crawford had 26 and 23 respectively. Brian Bowen had a double-double with 13 points and 14 assists in the win. Meanwhile Drell has 32 and McGowens scored 28 in Rip City’s losing effort.
Rip City and the Stockton Kings match up once more on Sun Dec 15th for a 2:00pm PST tip at Adventist Health Arena.
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