B1 5v5 TUE Week 4 Write-Ups
by Jason on
By: JAY SHAH
WEEK 4 9/26
CCC Studios (61) v. Treys for Days (49)
Studios ride massive first half to comfortable win over Treys
After an 0-2 start, CCC Studios clearly knew they needed a spark. They got it in the form of Nick Bates and Rodney joining/returning to their lineup, and both teammates immediately showed out to lead the team in scoring. Bates was a master on the inside, grabbing 8 makes in the paint as he maneuvered around the various defenders the Treys sent his way with relative ease, not seeming to break a sweat splitting a double team or backing down a bigger defender on his way to 18 points. The only place he faltered at all was the free throw line, where he made only 40% of his tries, but his ability to get himself there remained plenty valuable. Meanwhile, Rodney had a stellar first half especially, making 3 shots from both the paint and beyond the arc, often pulling up from well past the line - clearly, he was extremely confident in his stroke and it showed as he shot over 40% from three. Chris Voukides was a late arrival but immediately made his impact felt, cashing in twelve points, also primarily from downtown. Mike Salis played the point guard role once again for this team, as he dished 5 assists and grabbed the most boards on the team to clean up the glass and dribble the ball up while setting up the offense for this team. CCC Studios looked somewhat hapless in their open to the season, but with these reinforcements in tow and their team in full gear, they look pretty frightening once again - look for them to get a serious roll going here in the midseason.
The Treys for Days had a miserable first half defensively, as it seemed like every trip CCC had down the floor against them, the Treys let in a bucket. They were doubled up at half in what was the worst halftime deficit so far this season in the league, heading into the break needing only to double their 22 points to match CCC Studios’ 44. The squad as a whole stepped it up in a big way in the second half, led once again by Dana Flood, who scored 16 points to lead the team as he looked aggressively for his own shot in the latter half. George Thissell was right behind Flood, scoring exclusively on the interior as he leveraged his size against a relatively small CCC team to decent success. It was a solid formula for the two as Thissell and Flood were both magnetic offensive presences in their respective areas (the paint and the perimeter, respectively) to allow their teammates to operate in the space in between. Chief beneficiary was Sam Issenberg, who used that space to drive to the interior time and again and drew foul after foul; Issenberg took an incredible 10 free throw attempts, though he was only able to sink 4 of them. It was a tough game after a solid win against Eastie Hoops the last time out, so they’ll be looking to get over .500 once again against a Wat Rats team coming off their own get-right win.
Next up:
CCC Studios (1-2) at Skelton’s Boys (2-1) - 10/3 6:30p
Treys for Days (2-2) v. Wat Rats (2-1) - 10/3 7:30p
Men’s League (71) v. Skelton’s Boys (59)
Men’s League hold on to early lead, withstanding each Skelton run on way to big win
Men’s League started up 3 to 0 due to Skelton wardrobe issues, and they never ended up relinquishing their lead in securing a wire-to-wire victory. The first half opened extremely well for them, with them building a significant lead to pad their initial buffer. Skelton’s Boys, however, playing with only their 5 starters and no bench, put up a significant fight, with Erik Petit in particular putting the team on his back en route to his team-leading 20 points. At the tail end of the first half, Petit, Henry Bayly and Doug Horan each put in huge buckets for Skelton to cut Men’s League’s lead from 12 at its apex to a much more manageable 5 going into the break. In the second half, Elijah Anderson got his shot going, making 4 of his 8 attempts from three and providing crucial rim protection against the suddenly oversized Men’s League squad. His 2 blocks and 12 points were crucial for Skelton as they tried to prevent Men’s League from running away on the scoreboard. The closest the margin ever got was 4 points after the first bucket of the game was scored midway through the second half, as Skelton’s Boys just couldn’t seem to find the bottom of the net at just the right time. Horan had the look of someone who in the second half could potentially break through with that game-tying basket, but his 16 points could not bring a tie to fruition.
James Morse and Tyler Seibring led the way for Men’s League, scoring 16 and 15 points respectively. Both players used their size all over the court in fact, securing 5 steals and 2 blocks between them along with 10 boards. Morse dialed back his attempts from deep to some degree, instead leveraging his touch to make tough shots inside as he drove into the paint for his most effective usage of the night; he drew 3 shooting fouls and converted all but one attempt from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Seibring scored inside as well but had a nice touch from deep, sinking 2 of his 3 attempts from there. Jack Anton and George Schultz held a co-lead in assists for the team, with 3 apiece, each getting theirs in a different manner, with Anton finding opportunistic cutters and Schultz dealing it to open shooters. Will Childs-Klein added 10 points on the inside, being fed with great entry passes and even throwing down a dunk on the fast break. It was a resilient performance from Men’s League, as they weathered each punch Skelton could manage without ever giving in. When they have all their players, this team is scary.
Next up:
Men’s League (3-1) at Eastie Hoops (0-3) - 10/3 8:30p
Skelton’s Boys (2-1) v. CCC Studios (1-2) - 10/3 6:30p
Wat Rats (58) v. Markit Basketball (48)
Back-and-forth first half turns testy down the stretch as Wat Rats pull out huge win
The game started out as well as possible for Markit Basketball, once again the most well-attended team on the slate this Tuesday night after being caught lacking last week. They won the tip and raced out to a pretty significant lead from there, at one point in the first half firing to a 22 to 11 lead and looking like they might have a dominant night with nearly all of their players available. The Wat Rats, however, answered with an incredible run to end the half, outscoring Markit Basketball 17 to 6 down the stretch to tie the game going into the break. The matchup was characterized primarily on both sides by voluminous turnovers - neither team could seem to take care of the ball, including one stretch midway through the first half wherein the teams combined for 5 straight turnovers without a shot attempt, followed by a timeout by the Wat Rats, followed by another turnover. It was a sloppy game, but at least the scorekeeper was generous with the steal numbers, with Markit Basketball and the Wat Rats each totalling 12 steals on the night.
The second half turned from messy to feisty as frustration started to mount for both teams in a tough game to watch. Ian Shang and Anthony Coppola had a small dust-up, exchanging words as the refs stopped the game to separate them - luckily, Shang and Coppola made up just a few minutes later as the game wore on. The Wat Rats’ other Coppola was amazingly the highest scorer in the league on Tuesday night, grabbing 23 points solely on looks from inside the arc and including 7 points (on a massive 14 attempts) from the free throw line. Any improvement on his touch from the stripe could see M. Coppola consistently being the league’s leading scorer, a title he’s already competing for at this point. A. Coppola and Matt Coffey rounded out the top trio on offense for the Wat Rats, coming away with 14 and 11 points respectively. For the Markiters, Raj Patel found his shooting stroke once again to come away with 11 points to lead the squad, but behind him it was a very egalitarian spread, as Victor Chang had 8, George Phillips had 7, and both Shang and Kevin Dorosh had 6 points. The Wat Rats came away looking like a complete team led by star Marco Coppola who seemingly cannot be stopped, while Markit Basketball will be looking forward to getting itself right (and hopefully getting Cameron Gleichauf back into the fold) during its bye next week.
Next up:
Wat Rats (2-1) at Treys for Days (2-2) - 10/3 7:30p
Markit Basketball (2-2) - BYE
3 Stars:
- James Morse (Men’s League) - 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks
- Marco Coppola (Wat Rats) - 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, 1 block
- Nick Bates (CCC Studios) - 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block
Power Rankings:
- Men’s League (+1)
- Wat Rats (+3)
- Skelton’s Boys (-2)
- CCC Studios (+3)
- Markit Basketball (-2)
- Treys for Days (-2)
- Eastie Hoops (-1)