In the narrow gym of Prairie Ridge Elementary, decked in red shirts, the fifth- and sixth-grade Salvation Army Hawks shot practice shots. Hawk coach Michael Rupp called for his players to box out. However, despite this last-minute practice, the Pistons in blue dominated the March 13 matchup, 49-6.

“There’s not much to say,” Rupp said. “That was not a good game.”

Piston Jordan Ballock opened up the game scoring, offering a preview of the complete stomp they were about to open up. Brennan Williams carried the Pistons to their win by taking more than 15 shots in the game. Williams quickly picked up the ball and landed three layups right in a row. Piston Chris Pyle broke the two-digit point barrier, leaving the Hawks in the dust.

The Hawks finally broke through the cement of the scoreless quarter with Montana Locke feeding the ball to Brady Adams, who brought it home. The Hawks saw the end of the quarter slip through their fingers with the Pistons taking back control, ending the first quarter 15-2.

While Rupp kneeled down to iron out the strategy for the Hawks, Pistons coach Don Ballock was grinning and high-fiving his players. The Hawks came back in for another push for the second quarter. Despite this increase in energy, the Pistons just wouldn’t stop scoring. Williams hammered several more home for the boys in blue. The Hawks just couldn’t pull themselves out of their slump.

Colin O’Neal was able to take control of the ball several times for the Hawks, but the defensive wall was too much. The Hawks got their wings clipped by the end of the second after a complete steam roll, ending the quarter with the Pistons way out in front of the Hawks.

Fatigue began to show for the team in red. The Hawks had no reserves, so the five boys stayed in for the entire game. Despite the physical burden, Adams was able to steal the ball only to lose control down court.

Pyle fired it up again for the Pistons, landing three shots of his own. The Pistons only had one reserve themselves, but managed to keep completely in control of the game. Williams kept his team on the winning side, wiping the floor with the Hawks. With five seconds left, Adams hit the only basket for the Hawks in the quarter and only the second for the game.

With desperation, the Hawks began to scramble across the court to try to get something going in the fourth quarter. Ballock opened the scoring of the fourth. The Hawks managed to show their good side by the end of the game, when O’Neal sunk the third basket of the game. The Pistons finished on a high note, when Mitchell Ballock was fed the ball in the last 15 seconds, pushing the final gap to 43 points.

Williams was happy with the final end of the game.

“We made some really good shots,” he said. “We had to work on handling the ball, but it was good.”