It was looking like another tough night for Jose Loco’s against the Juniors on Jan. 26. Yes, these well-drilled tykes just wouldn’t stop boxing out, rebounding, then galloping down the court on three- or four-on-one breaks.

There was more than one helpless looking face in the Loco’s huddle. “It’s not going to happen again is it? It can’t!” bellowed a frustrated Commish, in reference to the drubbing his team suffered at the hands of the Juniors just days into the new year.

At half time, things weren’t looking good.

But instead of dragging his feet and cursing the juniors for having both energy and youth on their side, Greg Yates began taking the ball straight to the basket down low.

Often with more than one man on his back, Yates repeatedly worked his way through contact to score. Meanwhile, as Yates was working his butt off, his teammates seemed quite content to sit back, relax and watch the tank single-handedly roll over his opponents.

One of only two players to break 40 in this aging YKBA season, Yates again showed himself to be a reliable scoring option. Without his 27 against the Juniors, there is little doubt Jose’s would have suffered a second mentally scarring loss to the teenagers.

Instead, Yates allowed his teammates to salvage a shred of collective dignity.

When asked what motivated him to such a stellar second-half performance, Yates said he just kept thinking about the Jose Loco’s team party scheduled for the coming weekend.

“I love paintball, especially when it’s played in a tiny underground Mexican bar,” said the happy-go-lucky Yates. Good thing he didn’t know the darned thing was going to be cancelled.