Spring 2014: A Draft League Champs: Any Given Monday

A-Draft S14 goes out with a bang as AGM prevails in 2-OTs to win the title
Shuttlesworth Rebirth 68 Any Given Monday 70

In case you haven’t heard, A-Draft is back with a vengeance folks! The spring 2014 season was one of the best/most competitive seasons CAC’s original league has had in quite some time. What better way to finish an incredible summer than the most exciting finals game I have ever seen at Wall ball Arena?

In one corner we had the B-Walsh captained, apply named Any Given Monday. Led by the twin towers of Craig Noto and Craig Hendricksen, it’s been the role players Franz Hertle, Sam Boyer and especially Andy Fadous who propelled this 6^th seeded team to the title game. In the other corner we have 2 men quickly becoming A-Draft legends. Garrett Bush is a sniper with a knack for hitting big shots at crucial moments. Jake Struck followed up his rookie season with an MVP caliber year. Their bench put up more unassuming numbers but they may be just as solid. Raul Broun bring size/hustle, Jono brings shot/play making and Emmitt plays lock down D. This was sure to be an epic game.

I’ll say this, for a 2OT game this one sure was low scoring. This first half absolutely belonged to SWRB. Before the game I had a chance to speak to Jono up on the balcony. I was surprised to hear that despite being around for a while, he has yet to win an A-Draft championship. Jono certainly played like a guy that wanted to win. He was seeing dead red in the first half, knocking down 3 huge 3 pointers, 2 of which broke the game wide open. Meanwhile SWRB’s bigs Jake and Raul were winning the rebound battle against the Craig combo on both ends of the floor. Things weren’t looking good for AGM, they kept going to the Craig’s but couldn’t find much offense elsewhere and found themselves down 41-30 at halftime. The story of the half really was SWRB’s shooting, 6/10 from 3 as a team and close to 75% from 2.

There was one player in this game who could truly call himself a “winner” before this game began. That man is Andy Fadous. After going scoreless in the first half, Andy burst onto the scene with a huge 3 as the second half began. Andy picked it up on D as well and began to shadow Garrett all over the court. AGM went on a mini run but SWRB was able to sustain the lead because of back to back huge 3’s from the Bush brothers. The lead was at 56-49 with 9 minutes to go when the one they call “Big Rig” Craig Hendricksen started going HAM (Hard as a Motherfucker). Craig drove to the hoop with reckless abandon, unafraid of the contact coming from the puny defenders below him. He erupted for 10 straight points in 2 minutes, including a game tying shot off the glass with 7:30 left to play.

Their next possession Sam Boyer; searching for his first CAC title, caught the ball on the wing, dribbled into the paint and put up a rare floater. Time stopped for me as the ball moved through the air. Would Sam actually do something heroic? I don’t know what else to call it and as the shot sank through the net I couldn’t help but feel good for Sam. He was fired up, as if he could almost taste what has eluded him for so long. AGM led by 2!

As epic as it might have been, Sam’s shot was not the game winner since we still had plenty of time left. But from there the pace of the game slowed considerably as each possession was treated with the utmost care. What I didn’t realize being wrapped up in the chaos of the game was the SWRB was giving away the game at the FT line. AGM’s bigs were racking up fouls but SWRB shot a combined 9/21 from the stripe, with their big men Jake and Raul going 5/13. AGM’s fouling wasn’t completely devoid of consequence, since their best player Craig Hendricksen fouled out of the game with just under a minute left and his team up 2. SWRB looked done as Jake missed the front end of a 1+1 and AGM got the ball in the hands of Franz. However Franz seemed to take a weird angle and Raul Broun was able to poke the ball loose. It was scooped up by Garrett who promptly buried a 3! SWRB up 1! Bush comes through again, wow! That could have been it but AGM inbounded the ball to Andy who smartly raced down the court and drew contact. It’s easy to say stupid foul by Emmitt but really it was a heads up play by Andy. Andy hit ½ FTs and then smothered Garrett as he attempted a game winner. Andy was all over him and Garrett had to give up the ball to Jake for a contested long 2 which missed short. OVERTIME

There’s one guy who I really haven’t said enough about yet, and that man is my former teammate Craig Noto. Craig was consistent but not spectacular for the first 40 minutes, overtime was where he put his stamp on this game. Jake “Struck” first in OT, but Noto answered him, burying  a tough turn around J in his face to tie it. Just like last week when Hendricksen was out of the game, Noto proved that he can be the alpha dog. After trading a FT each Noto got a chance at a game winner but it barely rimed out and we were headed to a second OT!

Noto vs. Struck round 4 was just as exciting as the previous . Noto’s jumper was locked in by this point; I could just see it in his eyes. He buried one after the teams traded FT’s to take the lead. Struck again had the answer with a tough spin move drive off the glass. Franz brought the ball down, took his time and found Craig in the short corner on the right side. Noto took 2 dribbles with his back to the basket before setting up his patented pivot left/fadeaway jumper. Jake got a hand up but not quite high enough as the ball sailed through the hoop to give AGM the lead 70-68 with 3.5 seconds to go! People talked shit about Noto after last season’s 1-9 campaign with yours truly, but I think he dispelled that entire BS argument in this game alone. Jake got a good look to tie it but Noto contested juuuuust enough and AGM are your champions!

Congrats to B-Walsh on his first title as a captain. The Bold Draft strategy worked. Andy Fadous is a back to back champ, the guy just knows how to win and really stepped up his game in the playoffs. Franz came into A-Draft with a reputation as a gunner but ends his season as the top assist man in the league on the championship team, an absolute steal in the 3^rd round. Sam, Craig and Craig all take home their first CAC championships as well, all a long time coming. SWRB goes home empty handed but they took AGM to the brink and really this game could have gone either way. I hope Garrett decides to come back to us even if he has to take a season off. Drinks and apps at Mead Hall after the game was a great time, more of that to come next season. See you all in the FALL!

Scores, Box Scores & Write-Ups

Playoff: week 13

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