Undefeated 22nd MXO takes home intramural basketball championship

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Colby L. Hardin
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
The 22nd Maintenance Operations team, or "Team Ratchet", finished a perfect season after defeating the 22nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and taking home the 2015-2016 intramural basketball championship.

Team Ratchet went undefeated throughout the season despite being put to the test by the 22nd AMXS during the championship game.

Thanks to clutch free-throws and stellar defense from the team, they were able to pull off a narrow victory with a 37-35 score.

During that championship game, Team Ratchet were down early in the game by double digits and had to rally back to pull off the victory.

The championship game wasn't the only challenge Team Ratchet faced, they also had to face issues dealing with their team roser.

"We weren't at full strength until later in the season," said Senior Airman Benjamin Dunn, 22nd MXO maintenance scheduler. "We had people who were deployed and people who were at temporary duty stations all throughout the season."

Team Ratchet eased by the competition, even with roster issues and a few close games. On the way to their undefeated season, they also came away with the most "mercy" wins in a season by any team.

"It was all about chemistry," said Senior Airman Allen Kasir, 22nd Maintenance Squadron fuel systems journeyman. "We played together outside of intramurals and it only made it that much easier. We didn't have that phase where we were trying to feel each other out."

The chemistry really showed when the team went down earlier in the season to AMXS and had to fight their way back from a 12-point deficit with only three minutes left to play.

"Once Darian dunked the ball, the rest of us got that spark that we needed to make that comeback." said Kasir.

This team has made history and looks forward to next season in hopes of repeating the same exact results.

"It was a good season," said Kasir. "Everyone was having fun so the morale stayed high and I think that was a big part of our success."