This week was filled with lots of basketball as Southern’s 2018 basketball intramurals playoffs commenced. The Men’s C League and Women’s B League results were finished earlier in the week on Thursday, with the Golden Tate Warriors (Men) and Stars (Women) emerging as champions. The championship games for the Men’s B League and A League and Women’s A League were this past Saturday in the Rees Tournament.
For the Men’s B League championship, Soup-a-Stars (4-4) took on Bucket life (4-4). While many in the audience had their favorite team, there was really no way of knowing of who would have the upper hand. The game started with Soup-a-Stars coming out hot with a couple of aggressive plays, with leading scorers Kevin Canas (16) and Steven Acosta (13) each making jumpers. Soup-a-Stars ended the first half with a 33-26 lead. However, in the second half, Bucket life brought a whole new game plan highlighted with a change of defense from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone and a more aggressive attitude. This defensive change also impacted Bucket Life’s offensive front, leading to sensational second half scoring by Kevin Wright (12 pts) and Elder Preval (9 pts). This brought the nail biting game to the final score of 49-48 with Bucket life bringing home the victory. “It was definitely our change of defense that lead us to victory,” says teammate Miguel Scavella. When asked what led their team to victory, Caleb Olmeda said, “Definitely our offensive front, but also because our motivation to win for our teammate Miguel because it was his last year.”
The Woman’s A League championship was a contest between rival teams, Legends (8-0) and Triple Threat (3-5). After coming from a devastating loss last year, Triple Threat, with a few added players, was ready to come back with fire and bring the championship home. The game began with the Legends coming out hot as they made two three point shots and multiple layups from fast breaks. Triple Threat always trailed behind most of the game but managed to keep it within 11 as the half ended with Legends up 20-9. Triple Threat came out with ice as Skylar Humphrey-Davis knocked down a couple of big threes and Alexa Martin aggressively attacked the basket, bringing the deficit down to 7. However, the Legends held strong throughout the game on both the defensive and offensive ends. The Legends, led by top scorers Natalie Diaz (16 pts) and Brooklyn Moore (10 pts), took home the victory with the final score of 48-23 . When asked about the game, Diaz, the team captain, stated, “When we started to play our game, the game was ours. We have such good chemistry as a team and we trust each other. There’s no better feeling.”
For the Men’s A League championship, it was no surprise that the top two teams of the regular season, Shaq Fu and GoodNight, made it to the finals. With both teams at 7-1 in games, we all suspected that this game would be very intense, however, what we did not know was the shocking way the game ended. The start of the game was a blur of chaos and aggression. Since both teams were agitated with nerves and excitement, it took several missed layups and turnovers before the teams started to find their groove. Although the score in the first half kept going back in forth between teams, by halftime, Shaq Fu started to gain control, ending with a score advantage of 24-17. This momentum influenced Shaq Fu to come out the second half with an aggressive attitude, attacking the basket to either draw the foul or score a layup. Goodnight came into the second half a little messy and with a couple of turnovers, but they did not give up without a fight. With a 12-point deficit, Hillis Jeffries made clutch shots to reduce his team’s deficit and bring the game to 41-36. In addition to this, Michael McDuffie also stepped up to the plate and delivered a swishing three-pointer as he dribbled up to the key, bringing the game down to a two- point game with one minute left. But the excitement did not stop there. With thirty seconds on the clock and GoodNight in control of the ball, players desperately tried to pull up shots to tie the score. Every ball kept falling in and out of the basket until LJ Anderson grabbed the rebound and put in a layup to tie up the game 43-43. We all watched as GoodNight brought down the ball with less than twenty seconds on the clock, thinking that this game would most likely go to overtime after a missed three point attempt, and these predictions seemed to be true as McDuffie’s three-point shot bounced off the rim with one second left. But our beliefs were defied as Durbin Brown jumped up and tipped the ball back into the rim right as the buzzer went off. Crazed with excitement and disbelief of what they had witnessed, the crowd rushed the court in celebration of a truly incredible comeback. When asked what was the first thing that came to mind after he made his shot, Brown, stated, “First thought was ‘That’s it. We’re Champions.’”