Kicking of the playoffs was a matchup between Chas’ Shooter McGavins, who were the 3 seed, taking on 6 seed Easy Cummins. This looked like a great matchup on paper, as both teams are defined by disruptive defense and have a similar ball movement-oriented playstyle, anchored by a shooting big man and disruptive defense. Civale and Shebertes ended the season 1^st and 3^rd in PPG and would continue to be the focal points of their respective offenses.

Starting things off Jamie was late in arriving for EC and they started without their best two-way threat on the floor. New dad Etheridge got the first bucket and Joe and Hammond added buckets as well, with Hammond scoring off a filthy crossover. After Jamie showed up he got a layup to go but SM had built a small lead. Civale was effective anchoring the post defensively and notched 4 first half blocks. These blocks allowed EC to get out in transition and Eisenberg converted off a fast break layup. Civale was also doing work on the offensive end and was able to erase the deficit by himself. The game was back and forth for the first half, Civale hit a big 4-point play and followed it up with another 3 late in the half. Chas tied the game on a layup and as time ran out, Civale hit another 3 to take a three-point lead heading into the half. Civale led all scorrs in the half with 16.

Shebertes opened the second half with a big and-1 and a three and Etheridge was doing a great job making the right read and finding the open man for SM. Alan hit a three and had a dime to Eisenberg to tie the score at 32. SM had a big stretch with Eth and Shebertes playing a two man game on offense which led to a 7 point SM lead. Hammond added two big second half threes and Shebertes went on a heater at the right time to extend the lead to double digits. EC was never able to climb back in the game and SM cruised to a comfortable 15 point win. EC just did not get scoring from their secondary players, as Civale (30 points) was the only guy on EC to reach double figures. SM will take on Harry and Meaty Men in the semifinals

EC

Civale A big two way game, 30/12 with 6 stocks

AO C had a few nice plays but was not consistent

Jamie D let-down game after a stellar regular season

Eisenberg C similar to AO, had some nice plays but was not consistent

EJ C effort was there

Chao NA limited minutes

SM

Chas B good shot selection and defense against EC’s guards

Shebertes A shot efficiently and went to another level in the 2^nd half, was dialed in

Hammond A big two way game, hit a pair of clutch threes

Eth A congrats on become a new dad!

Danner B+ had a nice bucket

Eloi NA limited minutes

Game 2 of week 9 was a matchup with some playoff seeding on the line as Chas’ 4-4 Shooter McGavins took on Cundall’s 5-3 Ther is Hope. Ian had everyone available. Chas was in a tough spot, missing Eth (congrats on the baby!) Eloi, and leading scorer Shebertes. Cundall graciously let CAC legend Matt Roberts fill in, who has won a couple seasons of this league with Chas. Would this generosity cost Ian?

Danner got the first points off a jumper and Roberts was impacting the game immediately making great passes and getting 2^nd chance points off offensive rebounds. Dias and Liam scored for TIH and Hammond scored 7 straight for SM and his team had a 4 point lead.  Hammond and Roberts continued to apply pressure for SM and Fasano was able to stop the bleeding with a tough and-1 finish at the rim. Fasano would have 5 more first half points but it was Gregg Dennis who was getting to the rim and free throw line to even the score for TIH. Roberts was cooking Marquis off the left shoulder in the post and going into the half the score was tied 25-25. Roberts led all scorers with 14 first half points.

Hammond and Liam traded baskets to start the second half and Roberts had a couple more nice post buckets. Dias was doing work for TIH and TIH was on an 8-0 run. Chas was visibly frustrated as his shot was not falling and he was not getting foul calls. Hammond stopped the bleeding with a filthy step back 3. Cundall followed this up with 7 straight points included two threes and a nice layup on a fast break which may have been a travel. Hammond once again drilled a three to stop the run. This game had a ton of energy and felt like a playoff game. Dennis continued to rack up assists and TIH kept the score close. Roberts hit a three to add to his monster performance. Liam had a steal but turned the ball over on the ensuing fast break which led to Chas finally getting a clutch three to drop. Liam went to the free throw line and nailed both to put his team up by 2 with two minutes left. Roberts got a clutch bucket to tie the game and the final minute ticked off the clock with Ian choosing not to foul. SM did not score and TIH only had 3 seconds to get a shot up. Dennis’ attempt did not hit and we went to OT.

In OT, Roberts repeatedly got to the free throw line and was absolutely clutch, making 5 of seven, but the key play was Danner grabbing an offensive rebound with less than a minute in OT to secure the win. The win puts Shooters as the three seed and TIH drops to the 5 seed.

Shooters

Chas C+ cant say it was Chas’ best game, but he hit big shots when it mattered most

Roberts A+ electrifying performance from the OG champ. Get him back in this league!

Danner A solid throughout, many heads up plays

Hammond A Scotty Harden was a bucket from deep and great on defense

TIH

Cundall B+ over solid game, questionable coaching late

Dias B effort was there but needs more than 7 points

Dennis A- great court vision, 7 assists

Fasano B+ double digit scoring and good defense.

Liam B- led the team in scoring but did not dominate

Marquis C rough game in a tough matchup with Roberts

Kicking off week 8 was a matchup of Chas’ 4-3 Shooter McGavins taking on Amir’s 6-1 Little D. After an attempted psyche out by Chas of Joe sherbertes absence, it was revealed that he was in. Upon tip, Casey was no where to be found for Amir. Everyone else was available for both teams.

Vody and Kahana started things off with buckets for Amir but Shooters came roaring back on an 8-0 run. Case arrived late and both teams were going back and forth until Cody exploded for 3 straight three pointers to start to build a lead for LD. With Casey getting the rest of his team open and diming up his shooters, LD built a strong lead and went into the half up 31-18.

Shooters rallied out of the half, getting buckets from Eloi, Hammond, Joe and Eth. Eloi was active on defesne, getting two steals and Big joe was getting and-1s down low. Hammond was doing a great job on the offensive glass and after another Scotty put back, Amir’s lead was down to 1 and he called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, BRob and Cody hit threes for Amir and Sherbertes answered with one of his own, but Amir had a 4 point lead. Eth had a clutch stretch, getting to the free throw line and hitting an and-1 to tie the game with under 5 minutes to play. At this point, Chas and Etheridge were both in foul trouble and Amir was able to take advantage of that and get to the free throw line. Kahana and Casey iced it at the line and LD went on to win by 5.

Lil D

Amir NA had a club trillion but made some solid coaching moves

Bohanker C- was active on defesne but the shot was off

Cody A big first half and shot 50% from deep

Kahana A- three wasn’t falling but clutch free throw shooting was huge

BRob B steady game, loved the assists

Casey B- grade deducted for tardiness

Shooters

Chas C- not Chas’ finest, but had good assist and steal numbers

Shebertes B led the team in scoring but didn’t dominate

Hammond B big day on the offensive glass

Danner C didn’t get a shot to fall

Eloi B+ great on defense and hit two threes

Eth B not his best and was in foul trouble