Winter 2010: B1 5v5 League Champs: Genzyme

Tickets Punch Their Way to West Finals
Big Tickets 59 Polish Hammers 49

Promo: Tommy Doyle's (Kendall and Harvard locations) are the place to be post-game. Did I mention White Russians are only six freakin' bucks? 'Nuff said.

Recap: This one was a bit of a surprise. Coming in, the Hammers were slight favorites only due to recent struggles with the Big Tickets. I should have known better because the Tickets are veterans to the dance. And they win a lot. Early on, we saw straight-up dominance that resulted in a Tickets win.

Right out of the gate, Ken Mullane was poppin' treys for the Tix while Ben Max was dusting off his EZ-Bake oven making cats look foolish out there. Sure, the pace was slow and this totally benefitted the Tickets. A 3 from Margaitas and a 3 from Max along with stellar defense across the board gave us a whopping 27-8 run to start the game. 27-8, Tickets with 6:00 left in the first half. This was a pasting!

Luckily, some of the Hammers showed up as they made it a close game eventually. Pete Stratigakis' 3 was a huge spark, especially after he followed it up with one of his four steals for an easy lay-up. Huge turning point that signaled the Hammers' reluctance to go down without a fight. The Tickets only led 34-22 at the break, but Jamaal Mitchell's big play inside right before half really set a good tone for his team.

Tickets ran the lead back up to 16 as All-CAC PG Ben Max flushed home another three. Still, the Polish Hammers' namesake was none too pleased about what was going on the court so he did something about it. Adam Polansky absolutely took over for big stretches of the 2nd half. He nailed three triples to begin the second half as the Hammers quickly jumped back into the fray.

Durbrow had a monster 2nd half for his team as he had an "and one" that cut it down to eight with 12:00 to go. And then Polansky nailed his 4th and 5th trey of the half in back-to-back trips down the court. Amazing. Tickets only led 47-43 thanks to the ridiculous shooting of Polansky.

But then, BDubs' 4th foul came along while Jeremy Margaitas started getting to the rack and, then, the line. He had 2 big FTs and a lay-up to counter Koz's lay-up and Polansky's putback. The Tickets clung to a 2-point lead with about 3:00, but again, Margaitas hit two more freebies to make it two possessions.

The magic just ran out for the Hammers. They couldn't make any more shots as they came up empty in the last three minutes. Clutch FTs from Jamaal Mitchell and a huge heady play by Mike Bavuso sealed this one up like last night's leftovers with Ziploc.

For the Hammers, a tough loss. But they'll be back in the B1 5v5 West dance next session. Koz and the gang will rebound. And for the Tickets, they end up regaining their early-season dominance (with two key guys missing). An impressive team performance. We'll see what they have against Genzyme for the West title on April 15.

Scores, Box Scores & Write-Ups

Playoff: week 14

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B1 5v5 West Winter 2010 Basketball League