Our season has come to an end… What a season we were so lucky to witness this year! Arguably the best season in BBAL history packed with blockbuster trades, jaw-dropping upsets, and roof lifting highlights!!! Being my last article of the season, I’m pushing to make it the best of the year with the Semi-Finals and Finals being recapped in one! So let’s get into it!
First up, the Semi-Finals was the Titans up against the Huskies. The Titans and Commissioner Johnny Besecker were hungry to reach a Finals berth and take it home, especially with the commissioner himself never winning a title. The Huskies, however, with Timmy Edwards and the wolfpack just as hungry after their unexpected Playoff loss last year. They could've been expected to carry a chip on their shoulder going into this game. Early on, the Titans showed they came to play with the Huskies struggling to find the bottom of the net. This was an occurring theme for almost half the first half until they went on a run to bring themselves within 5. Transition buckets carried by stops on the other end brought them back. For the majority of the game, the Titans took command capitalizing on the Huskies lack of production despite going on a few runs. The Huskies really fell into a hole we haven’t really seen all year. The Titans were up 43-26 with 3 minutes to go in the first half and this lead from the Titans never really let up. Disappointing performances from the Huskies top guys to say the least, as they just couldn’t level themselves and match the Titans physicality nor offensive production. They were led by their MVP candidate, Timmy Edwards, who did have 30 pts, 2 steals, 9 boards, and shot 13-25(52%). Most of his buckets came when his team was already down as they, more importantly, couldn’t string stops together to give their stars breathing room to be effective earlier. Eli Washington was back with 25 pts, 2 steals, 7 boards, and 4 threes. Their last notable piece was Isaiah Valentine with 22 pts, 1 steal, and 3 threes himself. They needed more from other guys on the offensive end to compete with this Titans team and their defense was just not close to what we’ve seen all year. Speaking of the Titans, they were led by Commissioner Johnny Besecker with 32 pts, 4 assists, while shooting an impressive 13-20(65%) and 5-11(45%) from three. I’ve got to say Playoff Johnny is a different breed! His rookie phenomenon draftee, Chase Yarberough displayed 22 pts, 3 steals, and 13 boards. Rob Footman showed highlights of his quarterbacking with 15 pts and 7 assists. M.O.G with 14 pts and a foul out. And lastly, Jay Gonzalez off the bench with 14 pts, making great use of his minutes. Without being said, the Titans went on to beat the Huskies in convincing fashion, 109-88 to face the winner of the Dragons and Lanc Show Semi-Finals matchup in the Finals!
Punching the last ticket to the Finals was up for grabs between the Dragons and Lanc Show. The Dragons, who have faced adversity all year. From injuries to multiple weeks without full strength, and even doubts crept in early on in the season. You have to give their Captain, Alex “The Sheriff” Cruz props for turning this franchise around as well. They were a team entering this year and ending last year with little to no hope to be in a winning culture. Alex being able to rally his troops and display his loyalty into a winning culture truly shows something. The Sheriff definitely sparks me as a guy I would want to play for. The Lanc Show, however, after last season knew they were missing something to find Playoff success. Ajani Simmons was that something. A mid-season trade with the Gremlins to acquire Nas McFadden sure did help, but probably wouldn’t have been nearly as effective without Ajani by his side. This team showed a different level of intensity and purpose when Ajani was brought to town and their success has shown these exact traits. Onto the game, The Dragons without Joey McCracken and Dre Davis while the Lanc Show initially frightened some with Ajani showing late and no Luke Pierson, a big loss especially with him being a menace on the glass. Early on, the Dragons showed hunger and desire to win, maintaining a consistent lead up with 15 minutes to go in the first. Elijah Terry, Ricky Cruz, and Kevin Roldan were their leading contributors. The Lanc Show were struggling to find the bucket while getting unlucky at times with rim rolls. !0 minutes in the first and the Dragons up 31-17 with great defense and consistent capitalization on open looks. This continued to be the case until around the 10 minute mark in the 2nd half that Ajani and his guys were beginning to come along and cut the Dragons lead to 78-76! From this point on, nails were bitten and butterflies were circulating in stomachs! Minutes later, the Dragons impact players stepped UP! Kevin Roldan was dominating to reach back to back Finals for himself, Elijah Terry hit some crucial shots late and even Andrew Makrides stepped up in an overachieving role. They put their team on their backs and slammed the door to send the Lanc Show home while the Dragons reached the Finals to meet the Titans. The Dragons were highlighted by Kevin Roldan with 27 pts, 6 boards, and he shot 9-17(53%) with 6 threes! Elijah Terry with 26 pts, 9 boards, and he also shot close to Kevin with 9-16(56%). Ricky Cruz had 23 pts with 10 boards and 5 threes. Andrew Makrides and Isaiah Thomas both had 19 pts and that made the entire Dragons starting lineup nearly have 20 pts or more! That certainly is Playoff basketball and desperate hunger for a title. The Lanc Show, not so much with Nas McFadden with 38 pts and boards while fouling out despite shooting 55%. Ajani Simmons with 30 pts combining with Nas for 8 threes as he shot above 50% with 52%. And Jack Engle with 21 pts, 2 steals, and his best Luke Pierson impression with 11 boards. After these three, the production fell off a cliff and just wasn’t enough, especially down the stretch, sending them home losing, 100-114.
The game we’ve all been waiting for… A championship game for the ages! And certainly in the books as the best championship game in BBAL history! Two captains as hungry as it gets! The Sheriff was looking to collect his final bounty and Johnny Besecker was looking for some hardware that he so desperately has been wanting to do since the birth of the BBAL.
The Dragons were without Dre Davis and Joey McCraken consecutive nights. The Titans remained fully loaded as they did up against the Huskies. Starting off, the Dragons struggled to find the hoop. But, their defense and the Titans missed opportunities kept the Titans lead from being any danger. The Titans took control to start the game capitalizing on the glass especially as I stated in the broadcast on our sideline reports. The Titans being able to consistently get 2nd and 3rd chance points while keeping the Dragons at 1 shot per possession nearly every-time hurt them. The first half was hard for the Titans to miss other than the first few minutes. Chase Yarberough looked dominant while Elijah Terry was fighting back with Ricky Cruz to keep their team around. About 5 minutes to go, Chase had already highlighted the box score with 23 pts and his team being up 43-34 after a solid run. The Dragons went on a run of their own, ending the half at 51-50. It was important to note at half that the Titans were getting to the line often in the first but struggled to capitalize and this put the Dragons backs against the wall with key players in foul trouble with fears of pulling what the Bullies did to end their season last week. The second half was indeed in no room for blinking as every second seemed to be a must-see. Andrew Makrides with some solid buckets to start the half was hopefully the spark they needed as Antanee Pinkkard was getting his engine going as well. The crowd seemed to be in the Titans favor wanting to see Johnny and his guys get their first ring. Simultaneously, Johnny started getting hot and feeling the crowd's energy as it felt like the roof was gonna tear down!! Despite all this talk about the Titans, the Dragons were sticking around almost the whole half as eventually, they nodded it up at 88 with 6 to go with most thanks to E.T. The Dragons found themselves down 98-95 with about 2 minutes to go as And-1s and trips to the charity stripe consistently lifted the Titans closer to gold! Even though Elijah Terry for the Dragons hit CLUTCH timely buckets to keep his team in it, he fouled out with under a minute left down joining his teammate Isaiah Thomas, who fouled out earlier in the game maybe causing less aggressive defense from the Dragons. At this point, it was all she wrote as the Titans just had to play the free-throw game to bring home the gold for the first time in their franchise's history!! They were able to finish the job, thanks to Chase Yarberough with 33 pts, 9 boards, and 3 blocks! Ant Pinkkard with his brother in attendance, former BBAL champion, Devonne Pinkkard, Ant delivered with 24 pts, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 12 boards. Commissioner Johnny Besecker, who exploded in the second half with 24 pts as well with 3 steals, 12 boards, and 4 threes! M.O.G with 22 pts and 3 threes. Rob Footman with an important 6 boards and Jay Gonzalez making use of his minutes and turning them into forced turnovers with 2 steals. My biggest point-out that I continued to revert back to constantly in my sideline reports and post-game is the rebounding advantage. I’d sure hope that the Dragons discussed this at least at half-time if not in timeouts. I mean a 44 to 30 rebounding differential is huge especially in a championship game. It was a huge reason why the Dragons fell short of their dream and the Sheriff was unable to capture his last bounty, losing 110-104 with definite vengeance on their minds…
That wraps this season up from yours truly, Javion Rodriguez. I wanna thank everyone for tuning in and appreciating the time I put in each and every day to help evolve this league and my standards as a future journalist/analyst. My return is brewing for the BWAL(Wiffle Ball) and will be announced on my social media(Instagram:jsilky09) Again, thank you for a helluva season and the grind does not stop… Truly the best league in the world!!!
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