MEN'S DIVISION 1
Stallions 85 – The Academy 84
Stallions – Elliot Mason: 40 pts, Jitt Locham: 26 pts
The Academy - Geoff Pippus: 36 pts, Colin Plumb: 21 pts
The long awaited matchup between high paced, high scoring teams was hatched in this game of the week candidate! The Stallions were near full strength for this matchup vs The Academy! The Academy have about 13 players on their roster, but always seem to have just 5 players to play! Almost as if they schedule these guys off so that they play with just 5 players.
Not bringing enough players against the multi time league champions is a bad idea, and the Stallions made The Academy realize that right away. The neck breaking pace was right up the alley of both teams, but the Stallions got hot quick. Jitt Locham put early pressure on the Academy, but Elliot Mason put an early “spanking” on The Academy! 29 first half points from a man that came into this game “nursing” an “undisclosed” injury! The fast start by the Stallions, was coupled with the cold shooting of Pippus and the rest of the Academy. It got so bad at one point, that one “unidentified” Academy player was vaguely heard saying “Sometimes it is not your day”.
The 2nd half would see the Stallions look to improve on their 15 point halftime lead, but a strange thing happened in the middle of this game! The Academy started making shots! As they started to click on all cylinders, this game ended up miraculously going down to the last possession! The grind it out struggle that The Academy went through, came down to one last possession. Down 3 with less than 30 seconds left in the game, The Academy decided to go for the tie instead of a quick bucket. The Stallions played it well challenging every three point attempt. The Academy swung the ball to Bret “the commissioner” Macdonald at the left elbow of the three point line. As he was attempting the three pointer, a Stallion player challenged the shot to force a higher arch on the shot by Macdonald. The shot fell short and was put in for a layup by Colin Plumb, but at the buzzer!
Toonsquad 69 – All Native 54
Toonsquad - Vartan: 23 pts, Sheldon and Ryan: 16 pts each
All Native – Elijah: 31 pts, Sean Holland: 6 pts
The All Native team had a busy weekend taking down a local weekend tournament in back to back years. That win took a toll on their roster on this night, as they were just able to field 5 for gametime. The Toonsquad had the usual suspects, and they came out playing like “The Usual Supsects”. All Native would have Elijah from CBC out of Abbottsford, who would pay dividends in the 2nd half.
Toonsquad took advantage of the open shots off of good ball movement to build a sizeable lead in the 2nd half. The game would have been way out of reach if it were not for the shooting of All Native’s Elijah! He would it 22 of his 31 in the 2nd half including four 3 pointers. It would not be enough as Toonsquad would leave the floor victorious!
UBC 115 – Coquitlam Boys 66
UBC – Pat Simon: 31 pts, Luka: 29 pts
Coquitam Boys – Nikolay: 19 pts, Accom: 12 pts
Shout out to the Coquitlam Boys! They have battled all season missing a few key players, yet still fielding a team to compete with every night. UBC would come to town like vipers, and absolutely bite, squeezed, and devoured the Coqutilam Boys whole. A dunkfest ensued shortly after this “victimless” rout, led by “Jumping” Pat Simon!
Pat would also lead all scores with 31, and led his team to a 66 point first half! The Boys reached 66 points, but gave up 115 to the UBC Thunderbirds CIS powerhouse.
UBC puts themselves in great playoff positioning when it comes to the post season battles ahead.
Sonic Boom 66 – Blues Bball Club 90
Blues – Mo: 26 pts, Malik: 22 pts
Sonic Boom – Gabe Gibbs: 26 pts, Emerson Murray: 14 pts
The youngsters in the Blues squad came in with a pep in their step, going up against the veteran Sonic Boom team. While Sonic was short a few key players, they still had some young veterans ready to start the attack on the Blues. On this day, it would not be Emerson Murray’s day! Murray kind of slept thru the first half getting his teammates involved. Gabe Gibbs, fresh from a 2 week tour in the China Pro League, helped keep the team afloat with his efforts. The Blues were all over Sonic from the jump, and didn’t seem like they would let up.
The Blues halftime lead seemed to be small enough for Sonic to make some “veteran” adjustments to make a comeback. The comeback was made when Gabe Gibbs continued to get the ball in the paint, and he wreaked havoc! The Blues would respond with baskets from Jake and Malik, but none more potent than Mo! Mo put the Blues on his back and torched Sonic for a game high 26! The off day by a few of Sonics players doomed them to one of their worst losses in Metro League history!
SB Battle 100 - Hilltoppers 0
MEN'S DIVISION 2
Sofa King Good 85 – Stepbrothers 54
SKG – Antonio: 28 pts, Gurjit: 27 pts
Stepbrothers – Jorge: 16 pts, Williams: 14 pts
The Stepbrothers had some good shots in the this game from various team members, but Sofa King Good looked to be in prime shape to start the upcoming playoffs. After a close first half, SKG slapped on the legendary “Palmer Zone” to slow the Stepbrothers down. They would then take off like a rocket ship in the 2nd half scoring nearly 50 points. A few of SKG’s members are still shaking off “Vacation Shape”, but should be ready to run up and down the court in the playoffs.
B2B 48 – B.O.B. 41
B2B – Joeman: 13 pts, Tony & Francis: 12 pts
B.O.B. – Martin: 13 pts, Paulius: 9 pts
Suprisingly, this game was the lowest scoring affair of the day. B2B usually has a high motor when fastbreaking for points, but B.O.B. styfled their usual fastbreak style. Neither team could throw the “Ball in a River” much less an ocean, as the bricks piled up.
B2B’s Francis Chiu got hot and began hitting shots from everywhere late in the game. The timeout used by B.O.B. late in the game was way too late. B2B finds themselves in the middle of the pack, and look ready to play anyone in the playoffsl
Western Union 71 – Core 61
Western Union – Mannie Deo: 26 pts, Chad: 17 pts
Core – Tyus: 22 pts, Cody: 13 pts
With the playoffs looming, Core came in needing a victory to have a chance at being considered for the playoffs. Western Union would come in flying around with their high octane attack. Western Union battled the height of Core the entire game! WU was able to win the 50/50 balls for second chance put back points. The main beneficiaries was Mannie “Hit em’ With the Hook Shot” Deo! Manny would score a game high 26 points, while the rest of the team hit timely buckets to salt away the victory.
Even with the late game comeback, it looks like Core will have to go back to the drawing board for next season.
YMCMB 65 – WH 49
YMCMB – Jack Ho: 22 pts Reggie: 18 pts
WH – Jamie Madewan: 15 pts, Ben Samy & Brad: 7 pts
WH had a few key wins this season to put them into the playoff race talk, while YMCMB has struggled with consistency. In this game, YMCMB would channel their championship swagger of seasons past! They jumped all over the WH from start to finish!, Even with a late run by WH led by Jamie Madewan, WH were not able to match the renewed fire of YMCMB! The return of Kelly Lo may have inspired the team, but Taurean and Jack Ho combined for 40 of YMCMB's 65 points.
Ball So Hard 64 – Emperors 56
BSH – Ravi: 24 pts, Devon Carney: 21 pts
Emperors – Ryan Szeto: 11 pts, Jacky & Frankie Liu: 10 pts each
On the eve of the Spring league playoffs, a lot of players are on edge and battling for seeding or a playoff spot….Period! These two teams came into today’s game with some “dust ups” in their previous matchups.This game would be no different!
The action started early and often, with both teams almost playing to a stalemate in the first half. The dust ups were mostly verbal, and it seemed to favor Ball So Hard. At the start of the 2nd half, Ravi came down and hit an opening half three to setup the Ball So Hard “grind it out” second half style that they have.
No bumps and bruises, just a hard fought game and Ball So Hard would grab another much needed win.
The Party 100 - Team Flight 0
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