Spring 2011: B1 League Champs: Killa Beez

Whalen Leads Balanced KillaBeez Team to Championship
KillaBeez 77 Tiger Blood 50

0-4.

1-5.

These were the KillaBeez records after 4 and 6 games respectively. While they were undoubtedly talented, their record suggested a team that would end up fighting for a playoff spot rather than fighting for a championship.

Turns out that they were just waiting to turn it on.

After a week 6 loss to the Paper Champs, the Beez didn\'t lose again, rattling off 7 wins in a row to win the B1 title in impressive fashion. As they were for most of their spirited run, they were keyed in the title game by guard Donnie Whalen.

Tiger Blood (a team that had made an impressive and improbable run of its own to get to this game) had no answer for his array of step-backs and swooping drives. They also had no answer for Siaffa Golaiffe\'s inside-out game, and the two combined for 18 first half points. Tiger Blood hung around largely on the strength of Drew Legare\'s overall play, and had narrowed the lead to 34-27 with a couple minutes left in the first half. If they could put together a little run, we might have had a game on our hands.

Instead, Demetri Dardy stepped up and nailed two huge threes in a row to push the lead to 13, and it was never again in single digits. He later added another 3 (finishing a perfect 3-3 from deep), keying an excellent 8-13 team performance from downtown.

The Beez raced out to a 44-31 halftime lead on the strength of their defense and balance -- every member of their team scored at least once in the half. In the second, it was Whalen and Golaiffe again, with the latter hitting 3 straight difficult turnarounds from the right baseline. The unguardable shots pretty much drove a stake in the heart of Tiger Blood.

For their part, TB never gave up. Kyle Ross continued to get into the lane en route to 12 points, Ryans Cadman and McClean nailed two big three pointers, and Mike Cadman did a little bit of everything. Legare tried to put the team on his back, scoring a game high 26 and pulling down 12 boards, but his efforts weren\'t enough to make this game close.

For the Beez, Whalen and Golaiffe were supported primarily by Oba Lewis (10 points, 6 boards) and Marquis Masse (9 and 5). Their combined efforts led to an impressive turnaround in what seemed like it might be a lost season.

Scores, Box Scores & Write-Ups

Playoff: week 13

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B1 S11 Basketball League