Cavaliers share a court with the Danbury Lakers

Cavaliers share a court with the Danbury Lakers

Feb 11, 2013   

Written by

Matthew Horn

Sports writer

Danbury's Caleb Gerber takes a shot as he is pressured by the Lakota defense during the second half on Saturday. / Jonathon Bird/News Herald

CLEVELAND — What do NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving, U.S. Olympic-team member Andre Iguodala and Danbury’s Chance Mackall have in common?

They all played on the same court Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Mackall and his Lakers teammates didn’t play at The Q at the same time as the NBA stars but had an unforgettable experience despite a 47-33 non-conference setback to Lakota. Danbury’s game was only a few hours before Irving’s Cavaliers fell to Denver 111-103.

“It was just a dream to play on the same court as these stars,” said Mackall, who finished with a team-high 12 points. “It was a great opportunity and I’m glad I was able to do it. We made some of the same shots (as the professionals). It was just amazing to play here.

“It’s not every day you get to play at an NBA stadium. I’m glad both teams were able to do it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I’m honored our team and Lakota were able to play here.”

The Lakers were almost in awe as the sight of the court walking down the stairs was stunning. The disbelief was heightened as they collected autographs from an obliging Irving between their game and his.

Danbury coach Drew Davie told his kids to get any NBA-range three-pointers out of their systems before the actual game and the Lakers delighted in hoisting a few up.

“Then shoot game shots,” Davie said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to come play at this venue. We’ve been talking about this and preparing for this for a long time. I don’t think it hit them until they walked to the locker room. ‘Wow.’”

Dylan Buckley added eight points for the Lakers. Danbury trailed 22-11 at the half before cutting the lead to 29-22 after three quarters.

“With our struggles this season, it was nice for them to compete in this arena,” Davie said. “We won the third quarter (11-7). Our kids played hard. It took a long time to get going in this atmosphere. Both teams started slow and we started slower.

“We cut it to seven but couldn’t get those couple more stops.”