Western Conference - Week 6 - November 9, 2015
SONIC BOOM 77 VS. BALL SO HARD 79
Sonic Boom – Joey Haywood 51pts
Ball So Hard – Lukas Weara 28pts, Devin Carney 16pts
This matchup looked to be one of the more evenly matched games of the night. Overall team ratings with comparisons to an NBA 2k lineup were even team wise, but player ratings were a little lopsided. The reason? Joey Haywood.
Joey is a part of one of the most deadly backcourts in Vancouver Metro league, alongside Mark Mitchell who was noticeably absent this game. Sonic Boom would start out with a few explosive plays involving Shamir Naik, showing his offensive and defensive flexibility. Ball So Hard would lead the charge with Lucas “The Ref” Wera, who saw a matchup issue going into this matchup. Someone else saw that too, and it was Joey Haywood! “You should go for 30 tonight” rang out from the point guard, and Wera went to work on just that! The problem was Haywood was working on a higher number than that.
This explosion from Sonic Boom’s leading scorer can be attributed to the sideline “serenade” of BSH’s Vic Karra! With his team humming along, Vic took it upon himself to antagonize Joey which led to a league tying 51 point effort. Single handedly keeping Sonic Boom in the game. They even got a late game turnover on BSH, to have a chance to tie or win. As time ran down, BSH sent a hard double at nearly the last possible second. Turns out it worked to perfection, as Haywood could not get the shot off before time expired!
SWAT 61 VS. LIVESTOCK 67
Swat – Gene Wolf 20pts, Vlad 14pts
Livestock – Patrick Samson 16pts, AL 19pts
The new uniforms for LiveStock were subtle, but noticeable (business must be good)! They would come “stocked” and ready for the SWAT team. Livestock is the “Jack of all Trades” team of the league. They can play multiple styles, and they are hard to shake once they have a hold of you! This would prove evident throughout this game.
SWAT came out with a good game plan of slowing the game down, and getting the ball inside to its big men. The inside out game worked well too as Gene Wolf, Mik B, and big Al Nadraslsy would all knock down first half three pointers. SWAT would hold a 7 point lead at the half, but the game would go down to the wire.
Livestock came out with a three point barrage that would be reminiscent of a Golden State Warriors shooting show!!! Patrick Samson hit on four long range bombs early, but his LiveStock teammates would hit on four more to come back in the game. The base sped up considerably, and it pointed in favor of LiveStock. The game was still within reach late, as an unfortunate call went against SWAT which led to a technical foul call. With the free throws made, LiveStock would hold a 6 point lead late to hold on to the comeback victory.
STALLIONS 72 VS. SB BATTLE 57
Stallions – Elliot Mason 19pts, Brody Greig 14pts
SB Battle – Clay Crellin 10pts, Kadeem W. 12pts
REVENGE GAME!!!!! I don’t have to tell anyone in the “know”, that this game was circled in Vancouver Metro “Blood”! The first meeting between these two teams was an epic pre-game matchup! Both teams formidable in lineup and depth of those lineups. The end result was a 35 point win by SB Battle! The worst loss in Metro League history for the Multi time league champions!
This game was billed the REVENGE GAME….by me, but I know most the guys on the stallions squad were thinking it! One of the best indicators that I was right was one subtle, but very obvious factor…..THE MVP!!! Brody Greig did not have one of his best games in that first game, and it was more forgettable than teachable. This game started and ended with his fingerprints all over it! Surprisingly, a lot of the damage was started on the defensive end! The quickness of both teams was evident, but the hustle and the “go get it” factor favored The Stallions for most of the game!
A major factor in the first half was the unexpected foul trouble from one of the most accomplished front court players in Metro league history. Ransford Brempong picked up his 3rd foul on a double technical tie up with The Stallions Jitt Lohcham! He would later pick up his FOURTH personal on an accidental foul, which changed the dynamic of not only the first half, but the entire game going forward. Jitt and Elliott Mason ended up in foul trouble too, but would carry their momentum into halftime with an 8 point lead! The stallions had held SB Battle to their lowest first half point total at 26!
The 2nd half would belong to the Stallions! Elliot Mason drilled four 2nd half three pointers to start and finish a few crucial runs for his team. Clay Crellin did his best to keep SB in the game with is relentless attack on the boards. The power outage by Demitri Harris was glaring, and hurt the SB attack. Demi had flashes of coming alive, but the Stallions would quell every effort. The dagger in the game would come with about 2 minutes left in the game, as Brody weaved and passed the ball around the horn. Everyone on the floor seamed to touch the ball at least twice, causing SB to scramble on defense. As SB did a better than average job of defense on it, Mark Halfnight caught the ball in rhythm and knocked down the dagger three pointer near the end of the game!
REVENGE COMPLETE! The story is far from over!
Eastern Conference - Week 6 - November 9, 2015
YMCMB 82 VS. SUICIDE SQUAD 52
YMCMB – Glen 20pts, Reggie 13pts
Suicide Squad – Jarold V. 11pts, #10 14pts
What can I say that I haven’t already said about YMCMB? Through adversity, YM has stood the test of time in this league! Through lineup fluctuations, vacations, and defections, YM is usually the talk of the town (in Van Metro).
The Suicide Squad is similar to YM in its attack, as they use everyone to create an environment where it is hard to guard just one player. The only problem SS had is that they are not YM! YM’s speed, skill, and experience wore down SS in both halves, and cruised to a comfortable 29 point win.
Still waiting for the consistency to kick in for YM. Maybe this was the beginning of it.
CORE 63 VS. HOOP FIENDS 48
Core –Michael Cheung 13pts, Brandon Harder 12pts
Hoop Fiends – Andrew Chan 14pts, Derrun Wong 10pts
Is this the Core squad that all of us have been waiting for??? Season after season, from the late emerging “Quantum Leap” team to the renaming, and loading up of the previous Core squads from seasons past. In the last few seasons, Core has fallen short of its own lofty expectations….until now!
Even though the Hoop Fiends are not seasoned veterans of Vancouver Metro, they pose a sneaky threat to some teams not ready to play. Core would have little problem with that, as they would take a close halftime lead and gradually coast into a 15 point victory!
The key for Core is balanced scoring this season. All 10 players scored for Core this game!
STILL BALLIN 43 VS. DEEP THROWERS 37
Still Ballin – Trey Melton 15pts, Brandon Chancey 10pts
Deep Throwers – Lonzell W. 12pts, Dave Aujula 6pts
One of the most tenured teams in Metro league history, continues to baffle me game in and game out. This team has height, outside shooting, and defensive intensity year in and year out. Yet, they are one of the slowest starting teams in Metro History! It is painful at times, and it has yet to be solved like the case of the Loch Ness Monster!
This game would start the same for them with the Deep Throwers! Both teams combined for 38 first half points. The second half turned into who wanted it more! Lonzell Webster hit 10 of his 12 points in the 2nd half, but Still Ballin’ led by Brandon Chancey, Trey Melton, and the leadership of Jens “The Custodian” Cuthbert would help pull another close game out.
SOFA KING GOOD 74 VS. METRO MEN 57
Metro Men – James Zhou 17pts, Rob Lake. 19pts
Sofa King Good – Akeem Pierre 23pts, Kevin 18pts
The Metro Men picked a bad time to go short handed, facing the multi time Van Metro champion Sofa King Good club! Even though the Metro Men had 3 players score in double figures, it was not nearly enough to hold off the furious attack of SKG.
Akeem and Kevin Rasmussen combined for 41 of SFG’s 74 points, and that in itself helped their team run away with the game in the second half. SKG looks to be peaking at the right time once again, but the gauntlet of the Fall season still looms….WINTER IS COMING FOR THEM!!!! Can they withstand the journey in this season’s fall league???
COMMUNITY
