They survived the overtime thriller and now advance to the championship….

Coming into this game I had One For the Road (OFTR) as 5 point favorites over Bully Ball (BB).  In their regular season match-up, BB dominated OFTR by 18 points.  They were missing Colin Gray but on the OFTR side they were missing Dan Barbour and Ian Murphy so BB clearly took advantage.  No attendance excuses on either side today as both teams were at full strength.

First half:

When I noticed the score at 7-5 BB up with 14 minutes left in the half I knew this would be a really competitive game.  A few minutes later the score was tied at 11.  As the half continued it looked like BB was going to start pulling away, up 28-24 with 1:03 left but to close the half the score ended up being only a 30-29 BB lead.

Halftime stats:

BB:

Djordje Vlajkovic (DJ) 12 pts, 2 stls, 3 drebs, 1 foul

Casey Tenney 6 pts, 1 oreb, 2 drebs, 5 asts, 1 foul

David Ter-Ovanesyan (DTO) 3 pts, 2 stls, 2 drebs, 2 asts, 1 foul 

Colin Gray 1 stl

Robert Haas 9 pts, 2 stls, 1 oreb, 2 drebs, 1 ast, 2 fouls

Tommy Ng DNP

OFTR:

Harry Demakes 1 stl

Matt Kaplan 5 pts, 2 stls, 2 drebs, 2 asts

Erik Johnson 1 oreb, 2 drebs

Ian Murphy 5 pts, 3 orebs, 3 drebs, 1 ast

Jamie Cummins 2 pts, 1 dreb, 1 foul

Dan Barbour 17 pts, 2 orebs, 4 drebs, 1 ast

Player of the half:

Robert Haas

Second half:

Again the competitiveness of this game can’t truly be expressed by words alone.  BB did their best to hang on though up 54-51 with about 9:41 left in the half.  Fast forward a bit to the 3:20 mark of the half and the game was tied at 63.  Now BB at one point took the lead back and was up with an opportunity to hold the ball and force OFTR to foul.  They chose to take the wide open back breaking three to completely seal the game but it was off the mark.  With the game now tied at 67 BB had a wide open three for the win that also was off the mark so we were headed to overtime.

Overtime:

While the competitiveness wasn’t there anymore the game was still great here’s the breakdown of the stats each player accumulated:

Dan Barbour scored 11 points (1-1 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line).

Matt Kaplan 1 steal and a great assist to Jamie for three and a foul.

Jaimie Cummins 3 points (1-1 from three) and 2 fouls (ended up fouling out but did his job)

DTO 3 points (1-2 from three) 2 fouls

Casey Tenney 6 points (1-1 from three) (1-4 from the free throw line) and 1 assist 

DJ 1 offensive rebound and 1 assist 

OFTR wins this game 81-76.

Player Grades:

DJ B he scored well but I would’ve like to see him get a double double and attempt some free throws.  Overall he was solid but I just expected more from him.

Casey Tenney A- another triple double but I just cannot ignore his free throw shooting percentage.  He gave it his all like always so I don’t fault him just unfortunately for him he falls victim to Barbour again.

DTO C the three point percentage and missing the free throw hurt his grade here.  He was solid on defense though and picked up some other stats.  I thought for sure he was going to have a day when he knocked down his first three all net but unfortunately he just didn’t play that well offensively and his team desperately needed him.

Colin Gray B played limited minutes and was able to pick up a steal.  He did miss a three but it wasn’t a bad shot at all.

Robert Haas B was amazing in the first half but then slowly started to disappear as the game continued.  Not sure if it was fatigue or his team failing to utilize him properly but I would’ve like to see him get or take more shots.  Ultimately he had a solid overall return to SDL and I look forward to seeing him return next season.

Tommy Ng A didn’t but he held his head high and supported his teammates efforts from the bench.  I would’ve liked to see him play a little bit but maybe that’s just me.

Harry Demakes B got in got a steal and got out 😂.  It didn’t go exactly like that but he barely played so to gain his team a possession in this tightly contested contest was great.

Matt Kaplan B- the three point and free throw shooting percentages left more to be desired but he did his typical stat sheet stuffing helping his team secure the win.

Erik Johnson B got a couple of rebounds but barely played and when he did made sure he was a net positive.

Ian Murphy A wasn’t a factor in OT but outside of that this was by far his best game of the season.  An easy double double and was all over the court you can tell he wanted to win this one.

Jamie Cummins B- I cannot ignore his three point shooting percentage but the one he did make sealed the game.  He did get some other stats too and was obviously a key reason this team is going to the championship.

Dan Barbour A+ was just on another level.  Stuffed the stat sheet in an extremely efficient way too.  I don’t know who is going stop him from repeating.

Player of the game:

Dan Barbour guy was playing chess and they were playing checkers he’s too good.

In a thrilling game of 'other' that had fans on the edge of their seats, 'One for the Road' clashed with 'The Ruffkies & Dre' in an epic battle of athleticism and determination. Despite both teams bringing their A-game, it was 'One for the Road' who emerged victorious in a nail-biting finish, with a final score of 56-50 in their favor. The spectators erupted in cheers and applause as the underdogs secured a well-deserved win against the formidable opponents.

Our first matchup of the day was One for the Road vs Bully Ball where Bully Ball stuck to their namesake and dominated for much of this game after the first 10 minutes remained close. Looking to see if One for the Road can rebound as they had extended stretches of efficient offense to go with some bumpy stretches whereas Bully Ball stuck to attacking the paint throughout. 

A great win for Bully Ball being led by Djordje V with 29 pts 17 boards on some very efficient postwork. He overpowered One for the Road for most of the game making it hard for them on defense and collapsing led to open shooters. He was joined by Bobby H with a nice all around game of 24 pts 13 boards 5 asts. At times their size was overwhelming leading to easy buckets with their passing ability from bigs as well. Additional shoutouts to Casey T who flirted with a triple double with 9 pts 16 boards 11 asts and David TO who had an efficient 15 pts 3 boards 2 asts. 

One for the Road did have some bright spots in a tough loss as Matt K had a team high 29 pts 6 asts 6 stls on 6/14 from deep. He was a constant scoring threat all over the court and hit some tough threes in this game. He was joined by Jamie C who had 14 pts 10 boards 2 blks on some nice cutting and ball movement. Additional shoutouts to Harry D with 13 pts 9 boards and Erik J with 12 pts 3 boards on a couple three balls.