First up, The Huskies squared off against the defending champion CherryPickers. Scheduling was also judged for the Dragons and Pickers who most think deserved more rest. The Huskies were looking to rally the wolfpack without Elijah Washington and the CherryPickers were looking to shock the world with a fairly consistent piece, KJ Brownlee returning. Early on, the CherryPickers came out swinging and looked good if they could keep it up. Just like that, the Huskies seemed to wake up the wolves and defense was coming together as the CherryPickers fell under a dry spell offensively. This game was delayed for about 15 minutes due to suspected rain but that didn’t stop both teams from wanting to compete and put it all on the floor. The Huskies dominated for the majority of this game honestly. Jordan Tyson came up big especially defensively with Eli’s absence. He had 2 blocks and a steal, again proving why he is a former DPOY. The Huskies gathered the wolfpack and were led by Timmy Edwards with another 40 bomb, being 41 pts, 3 steals, 2 blocks, while shooting 17-24(71%) and 3-5(60%) from three. Isaiah Valentine's return was nothing less than special with 23 pts, 10 boards, 3 steals, and he shot 9-18(50%). Although, he shot an underwhelming 2-9(22%) from three, still a stellar showing. The CherryPickers had a better showing all-around but Tyler Crespo’s 25 pts seemed quiet in my eyes. He shot 9-26(35%) and only 3-13(23%) from three. KJ Brownlee had a solid 14 pts with better efficiency shooting 5-10(50%) and 4-7(57%) from three. Overall, this wasn’t enough to get past the wolfpack which would’ve been a monumental upset as the CherryPickers fell, 83-105.
Next up, The Dragons were looking to shake up some brackets as they were fully healthy against the 8 Balls, who are missing their 2nd MVP candidate, Julian Collazo. Can the 8 Balls face adversity and take care of business? The Dragons defense carried them early as Jason Kuntzelman was struggling to find breathing room and the 8 Balls struggled as a team to find open looks. This game hinted at a very physical dogfight between the two. Jason was forced to be aggressive and showed frustration as the Dragons seemed to be committed to making everyone else beat them. This game was the definition of basketball being a game of runs. Speaking of runs, the Dragons went on a run of their own taking the lead 45-36 at half. No one could get ahead of themselves as the Dragons have shown to blow 2nd half leads, but this was also the worst 8 Balls first half performance of the season. The 8 Balls to start the half came out firing on all cylinders with open looks and transition buckets. Just like that though, the crowd and the faithfulness of this Dragons team pulled them together. Once they took the lead back 63-58, the 8 Balls looked rattled and the Dragons did not look back. This miracle run continued by the Dragons was led by Elijah(E.T) Terry with 24 pts, 4 steals, and shooting 10-23(43%) with 4-12(33%) from three. Collective effort from the Dragons with Dre Davis having 16 pts, 4 steals as well, Ricky Cruz with 14 pts, and 11 boards, Joey McCracken with 12 pts and a steal, and lastly Kevin Roldan despite playing through an injured ankle, he contributed with 11 pts and 2 steals. For the 8 Balls, the Conway brothers led the charge combining for 38 pts, 10 boards, and a steal. As for Jason Kuntzelman, it was a rough night scoring 13 pts on only 5-16(31%) and 2-11(18%) from three. A bad night for the 8 Balls came at the wrong time as the Dragons moved on convincingly, 96-81.
Second to last, the WoodPeckers and the Lanc Show. We saw during the season what a show these teams gave us, can they repeat? The WoodPeckers had Elijah Eberly only for the second half however. Both teams matched intensity early and no team was shown as an obvious edge. Midway through the first, Lanc Show jumped out to a minor 26-20 lead. Both teams found open looks, this game was gonna have to be determined by the number of runs each team can go on and how long they last. Aaron “MJM” Castro came to play bringing the fight to the Lanc Show. He led his team with 40 pts, 1 steal, while shooting 16-26(62%). Devin Atkinson scored 30 as well combining him and Castro with 70 pts! Devin had 3 steals and 8 boards while shooting 12-15(80%) and 4-6(67%) from three. Two-man band from these two representing the Peck. Ajani Simmons, however, struggled early. The Lanc Show were led by Nas McFadden with 24 pts, 7 assists, 2 steals while shooting 10-19(53%) and 4-7(57%) from three. Luke Pierson had 18 pts, 12 boards, and 2 blocks. Jack Engle with 17 pts and Ajani Simmons with 17 pts after a slow start. The Peckers in the huddle all game preached defense. That was their focus all game and without Elijah Eberly, they couldn’t bring their defense together in the first half. The Lanc Show led 52-44 at half and looked to keep on the gas pedal. The WoodPeckers even with Elijah found themselves down 62-73 later in the 2nd half. The Peckers, just minutes later went on a run to make it 82-78 with 3 minutes to go! They made this a thriller despite Lanc Show winning in the clutch, 86-85.
Primetime brought us the “Battle of the Beseckers!” Another game that we’ve seen earlier in the season except both teams lacked a fully healthy roster. Two powerhouses is always what the fans wanna see! This also marks the first time in BBAL history that 3 brothers met on the court at once(Liam:Bullies) (Johnny and Jeb:Titans) The Titans were back with Chase Yarberough and Antanee Pinkard! The Bullies faced their biggest challenge when fully healthy, we’ll see how they react! Both teams stood to their identity and started at a lightning pace! The crowd early on made it clear that they were still rocking with the Titans mostly after what we witnessed in the regular season. Bullies players being mostly streetball struggled to adjust to league rules which notably affected their morale. Both teams went through momentum swings but then fouls started occurring for both teams often. In addition to this highly anticipated “rivalry”, Marquel Wansley off the bench as an intended coach called out Rob Footman for making a blind read ironically stating “you ain’t no damn QB!!!” This game in the first half was 56-54 as the Titans lead and hinted at being a game like others of who can go on a run at the right time or even the biggest run. The foul difference was pretty significant opening up the 2nd with the Bullies having 15 and the Titans with just 5! Early on in the 2nd, Rob Footman fouls out putting his team at a disadvantage despite the Bullies approaching multiple foul outs. The Bullies, then go on a run with about 13 to go winning 77-68! Before you know it, moments before disaster, Tyrell, Top Floor, and Kobe Gantz all foul out while the Bullies only lead by 3 and left the Titans shooting free throws every foul!!! The Titans were led by Ant-Man with 32 pts, 5 assists, 3 steals, despite 5 TOs. Commissioner Johnny Besecker showed out on both ends with 26 pts, 5 steals, and 4 blocks while shooting an impressive 11-16(69%). Chase and Makai also combined for 41 pts. The Bullies had 4 players with exactly 21 pts (two being Kobe and TopFloor). MJM Bills and Desean McFadden were the other two but, quite frankly, this team's fouls filled up the box score with 34 team fouls!!! With that, it was all Titans as they battled back, winning 115-110 despite the nail-biting finish it was! They defeated the “superteam” Bullies who myself and others are curious what their future holds after laying all their eggs into this year's basket by trading a barrage of picks and now having no future flexibility to work with. Quite sketchy…
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