Fall 2007: B1 League Champs: Genzyme

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Bubbles Depot 57  Count It 78

Count It Overwhelms Run Down Bubbles

Both squads were a little beat up after having a bunch of their players playing in Saturday night's 3 on 3 tournament.  The effects were visibaly apparent on the Bubbles Depot side.  With ICU (18 points) playing to the finals in the A League, and E Fizzle (10 points) pulling double duty to the tune of 10 games, the top scorers weren't in top form.  The Real XXX picked up the slack, tossing in 21 points to try and keep his team afloat against a very motivated Count It squad.  There was no way for Bubbles to slow down the three headed monster the Count It trotted out.  Mike Fritz (27 points), Aziz Sayegh (26 points) and Nick Baum (19 points) made an emphatic statement to the rest of the B1 North in their playoff debut.  They're not going to be intimadated or hold back just because of some of the 'names' they're going to face.  There seemed to be no limit to the reserves of energy that Count it drew from with their big names.  Fritz did most of his damage in the first half as his squad built a 12 point lead.  Pete Harris (11 boards) was instrumental to their early lead, as he was cleaning up in the post and physical when he got his hands on the ball.  Greenberg was key off the bench with his defense and energy.  Nick and Aziz blew up in the second half because of mismatches. 

As mentioned above, Finn wasn't quite himself, whether it was fatigue, injury or a lack of sleep we may never know.  He was shut out in the second half and clearly the legs were tired.  Tyler Fairchild (7 points) couldn't find the magic from last week, and Bubbles had no answer once Count It made a huge run.  A promising season ended prematurely in the minds of the Bubbles guys, and hopefully they'll be back to make a run next season.  Count It hopes to play next week on Sunday as well, and will await the winner of Gym Shoes and Silky Johnson, and we'll see if we can make that happen.

Genzyme 76  Vance Refrigeration 63

Billet's 39 Lead Genzyme into Round 2

With the Reihl Deihl (33 points) in attendance, Vance Refrigeration traded Genzyme blow for blow in the early going.  As Billet was dropping his usual 39, Deihl was keeping Vance on pace with 25 in the first half.  Collin (20 points) tried every trick in his arsenal to slow down Dolla Dolla Billet, but he usually foiled his best laid plans.  The hard dribble/step back was really on point and barely touching the rim on the way by.  With Mark Allyn (17 points) dropping 3s on the opposite side of the court, Genzyme had the number 2 threat that they needed to balance the floor.  Despite dropping 40 points in the first half, Genzyme only led by one at the break.  Without a sub, Vance started to wear down in the second half and couldn't keep up with Genzyme's relentless attack.  They didn't have the same offensive effeciency in the second half and it really hurt them.  Collin turned up his offensive game, but AK (8 points) and Biggins (6 assists) were contained, and that was the difference in this one. 

Keith (8 points) has some nifty moves in the paint that kept the D honest, while Curtis and Jean Claude Van Tran each added in 6 points.  Next week Genzyme takes on the Legend Killers in a rubber match for the season series.  Each team will be gunning for the win to play in this season's B1 Final Four.  Vance's up and down season has come to an end earlier than the Rattling AK would have liked.  But I'm sure he's going to revamp the roster and come back at the B1 with a vengence.  There are even whispers of the PK Broiler making a comeback for the Winter 08 season. 

Black Fist 70  Legend Killers 76

Legend Killers Add a Notch to their Belt

Despite hitting more threes, nabbing 10 steals on the night, and grabbing 19 more offensive rebounds then the Legend Killers, the Black Fist fell victim to the upset bug.  The Killers seized control of the game in the first half and never relented it.  Mike Sweeney (27 points, 9 boards) led the charge for the Killers, while Chris Sweeney (12 points, 8 assists) spread the ball around.  After getting the lead in the first half, the Killers walked up every possession, trying to limit the turnovers that the Black Fist thrives on.  Despite not taking care of the ball on every possession, they were able to build a 10 point lead, but as usual, the Black Fist had a second half run in them.  Preston Raymond (28 points, 19 boards) turned it on with his team struggling and looking for a spark.  He dominated Tibbs (19 points) on the boards and got his team a ton of second chance opportunities.  His 20 spot in the second half is why Black Fist continued to hang around.  Carl (14 points) and Deon (15 points) stepped up to hit big shots and trim the lead down.  Deon had a pair of steals and late threes to keep it a game and for the Killers to hit free throws.  Z (16 points, 5 rebounds) came through in the clutch as he did all game long.  The Killers never trailed in the second half and pulled off the upset to face Genzyme for the third time this season next week.  Hopefully Tibbs ankle will heal in time to at least be able to go and provide a big body and help on Billet.  Black Fist ends the season with a sore taste in their mouth, and hopefully they'll be back next season for a little bit of pay back.  http://www.crfcbasketball.com/about.php

Gym Shoes & Jersey 75  Silky Johnson 71

Gym Shoes Survives # 1 Curse, For Now...

On a night where they didn't shoot well from the charity stripe, their Enforcer was knocked out of the game early in the second half and the offense began and ended with J-Loh (34 points), Gym Shoes & Jersey overcame their own self destructiveness to hold off Silky Johnson.  The first half, Silky held a 10 point lead as Cheese (21 points) kept backing up and hitting from deeper and deeper waters.  With Superboy (11 points) supporting him in the post, the crowd of one* was riled up to see another 1v8 upset.  But as good teams do, Gym Shoes answered.  Mike Albert (13 points, 11 boards) was unstoppable in the paint and J-Loh hit back to back threes to open the second half and reclaim the lead.  Cheese once again answered the bell and the teams started to battle back and forth.  Scott Ellinwood (18 points) picked up the slack once Albert was knocked out with a gushing temple.  He started to take the ball fearlessly to the hole and into the towers that Silky had posted there. 

He wouldn't be able to return after the 13 minute mark and Silky had a huge advantage.  But they couldn't capitalize and Gym Shoes was up 7 with 3 minutes to go.  The offenses had slowed to a crawl, each team grinding out possessions and trying not to make that fatal mistake.  It hurt Silky, so they picked up the pace and got AO rolling late.  His 23 was a team high and he finally started taking the ball to the rack with Albert on the sidelines.  As Gym Shoes was continually sent to the free throw line, they couldn't convert, leaving Silky room to hope.  An 11-4 run, in which Gym Shoes went 1-6 from the free throw line tied the game at 71 with just 20 seconds to play.  Once again, the crowd of one* was pumped up, pounding on the balcony and pulling hard for Silky.  But they were in such a 'foul fast' mode that Josh (4 points) sent J-Loh to the line, despite the game being tied. 

Finally, someone could hit a few free throws and it was about time.  They shot just 15-25 from the charity stripe, and they could have covered the spread if they had hit more.  Instead, Silky had the ball down only two.  As the Alias (6 points) drove hard to the rim, it looked like we'd be heading to overtime.  But for once, someone (I don't know, gravity?) wasn't pulling for the 8 seed upset and the ball rimmed all the way around the cylindar, then rimmed around again, before falling out.  J-Loh hit a couple more free throws, and we can now say that the guys of Gym Shoes are HUGE fans of the rim job...

Rooting for Silky, there was me...