(6) Furious Rim Ticklers (56) v. (8) Lexington Steals (53)

Lexington's shocking run comes to an end as Rim Ticklers eke out second-round win

Drew DeBari had a blazing hot start for the Furious Rim Ticklers, as he hit all three of his successful triples in the game in the first eight minutes of the contest, helping the Rim Ticklers take a 14 to 9 lead early on. DeBari Andrew Pricto quickly answered for the Lexington Steals, going on a personal 5 to 0 run to tie the game up at 14 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The game remained tight from there, with the two teams heading into the break nearly knotted up, with the Rim Ticklers up 1 at 27 to 26. The second half saw FRT repeatedly creating some distance, only for the Steals to pull themselves back into striking distance. The game was tied up at 32 with sixteen minutes left in the second half, and the Rim Ticklers took advantage of Yancy Brown, Michael Rogosa, and Djordje Vlajkovic all making baskets to go on a 12 to 3 run over the next seven minutes. The Steals immediatley followed this up by working their way back into the matchup, turning to James Long, Thomas Finkenstaedt and virtuoso rebounder Scott Saveriano to cut the lead to 47 to 41 with six and a half minutes remaining.

Nonetheless, it seemed like the game was over and done with as the clock sat at ninety seconds remaining and FRT had a 52 to 45 lead. The Steals didn't give up at all, however, and began to play the foul game to get back into it. First, Yancy Brown was fouled and for the first time all night missed some shots, going 0 for 2 from the line and handing the Steals the sliver of hope they needed to continue fighting. Eli Brick came down the court and hit a three, getting a friendly bounce to bank it in off the glass. Vlajkovic drew a foul when receiving the next inbounds pass and went on to hit 1 of 2 from the charity stripe, preserving a 4-point lead at that point, with less than thirty seconds left to tick off the clock. Thomas Finkenstaedt immediately followed in Brick's footsteps, driving down the floor and rising to hit another three and cut the Rim Tickler lead to just 1 point. FRT was able to inbound the ball to one of its top shooters, Brian Phillips, who drew the foul with just a second and a half left. He hit both of his attempts from there, grabbing a crucial three-point lead with practically no time left. Finally, the Steals inbounded the ball, but the buzzer sounded as Finkenstaedt threw the ball up the court to a shooter in the corner, leaving the Rim Ticklers breathing a sigh of relief and moving on to the championship round for the league.

Next up:
(6) Furious Rim Ticklers at (5) NNHS - 11/30 Time TBA

Player of the Game: Drew DeBari - 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals

(3) BADDIES (48) v. (6) Furious Rim Ticklers (76)

Underdog FRT blowout BADDIES to advance, riding incredible performances from every player

The game started on a great note for the Furious Rim Ticklers, as they immediately set the tone, starting on a 13 to 4 run and forcing a quick BADDIES timeout. If they felt like underdogs going into the matchup it didn't show on any level, as the playoff intensity they displayed overwhelmed their opponents rather than the other way around. The early timeout didn't seem to have much of an effect on the early momentum that FRT built up, as they scored the next 6 points and continued their dominance all the way to a 38 to 16 lead, forcing yet another timeout from their opponents. The Rim Ticklers headed into the break still up by more than double on the BADDIES - 42 to 20. After halftime, the BADDIES did come out swinging, but it was far too late and the Rim Ticklers were too dialed in to allow their opponents to make any sort of headway. Brian Phillips had a somewhat out of character game as he led the team from the backcourt, dishing assists to his teammates over and over as he found them in space and making runs to the rim. Djordje Vlajkovic had his best game of the season on the offensive end, though he seemed to care about his own offensive rebounding stats more than his teammates assists totals, often missing the easy look and grabbing his own board for the open layup. Yancy Brown was a slightly late arrival but wasted no time scoring points in bunches, while Drew DeBari was dialed in from deep throughout the game and hunted for his own shot early on in the game to great effect. Jeff Yeakley shot a solid 40% from deep and also found himself among the scoring leaders in this prolific game from the Furious Rim Ticklers.

The BADDIES just had a rough game in comparison to the Rim Ticklers. Jake Goldstein did have perhaps his best offensive game of the campaign, as he sank 3 of his 7 deep balls and finished with only 1 less than Phil Leotsakos for the team lead in points. Leotsakos once again had a solid game on both ends but just couldn't carry his team to the heights of the regular season and they certainly couldn't match the level of scoring and defense shown by the extremely dialed-in FRT squad. Matt Roberts continued to lead the team in an effective manner, attempting to galvanize the team no matter the level of deficit they were facing. Despite the brutal loss to finish the season, it was a good regular season in which they built a stronger and stronger squad throughout the campaign. They'll look to get further in the playoffs next season.

Player of the Game: Djordje Vlajkovic - 16 points, 17 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block

Furious Rim Ticklers (62) v. Julius Swerving (79)

Swerving make practically every deep shot on way to comfortable victory to lock up top seed in league

Julius Swerving may or may not be the best team in the league (the standings would say they are) but they are without a doubt the most frustrating team in the league to play against. Almost every team in this league has at least 1, and usually 2, solid deep shooters who can and will fire away from three. For those teams, those shooters have significant gravity and force opposing defenses to shift towards them, creating lanes for other types of offense that plays off that - a significant advantage that each team utilizes to vary degrees of success. Julius Swerving, on the other hand, has a team that often plays with legitimately 5 legit snipers from deep. They don't even bother with playing out the counters to shooting because they can just all rely on making shots, pretty much every time out with the exception of their lone loss on the season. A few (Anthony Dinuzzo, Kyle Mochnacz, and Jim Birrell) consistently fire away from deep and connect with startling efficiency, while the rest tend to heat up throughout the game and start taking shots as the lead has already been built. That initial trio seems to start with an NBA Jam-style hot hand - they just can't miss in the first half, and seem to build an instant lead to start games. In this contest, the entire team was dialed in from the get go that the three ball was the move. The team's first ELEVEN makes were all from three, as they built a 24 to 12 lead in the first ten minutes and got to 33 before making a single basket from within the perimeter. Mochnacz made threes on each of the team's first 3 stips down the floor, and Birrell arrived late but had an incredibly efficient night, shooting immediately on catching the ball over and over as he made 8 of 12 threes for the entirety of his team-leading 24 points. Birrell couldn't seem to make a shot from within the perimeter ironically, as he missed all three of his attempts from the free throw line. Dan Popko, who usually shoots with much lower volume, picked it up from deep as the game wore on, matching Mochnacz's 4 makes from deep but without a single miss, scoring the second-most points for the team with 15. The entire team got in on the three party, with Ray Kluender, Devon Yablonski, and Mike Baker all joining in with at least one made three as well. Swerving now heads into the postseason as the 1-seed, facing down a seemingly hapless Lexington Steals squad in what seems to be the ideal first round matchup. The real question seems to be how far this team can go.

For the Furious Rim Ticklers, it was impressive they were able to keep the final margin as close as they did, down just 17 when the buzzer sounded - an impressive feat considering their 6 made threes pale in comparison to the 22 (!!!) cashed in by Swerving. It was a solid team performance from the Rim Ticklers, as Drew DeBari and Michael Rogosa each scored 14 for the co-lead on the team, with Yancy Brown (13 points) and Djordje Vlajkovic (11 points) immediately following behind. Brian Phillips attempted to get the Rim Ticklers back into the game as he fired away as per usual from deep, but his shot didn't connect as much as he would've hoped on this evening, making just 1 of his 8 attempts from the perimeter. DeBari also shot 10 attempts from 3, making 40% to make up the majority of his points. Caleb Johnson once again looked like a dominant rebounder, skying extremely high to put the though of offensive boards out of the mind of the opposition, and grabbing 3 on the offensive glass as well, while stealing 3 passes to really try to kickstart the offense. It was honestly a decent game for the team, but they just ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Julius Swerving. They'll likely have a considerably easier matchup next week, kicking off their playoffs facing a 5-4 A Team Has No Name that they played extremely tight in their previous matchup. It'll be the most intriguing matchup of the initial round - hopefully for the Rim Ticklers, they can bounce back in a big way.

Next up:
Furious Rim Ticklers (4-5) at A Team Has No Name (5-4) - 11/9 Time TBA
Julius Swerving (8-1) v. Lexington Steals (0-9) - 11/9 Time TBA

Player of the Game: Jim Birrell - 24 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals

Power Rankings:
1. Julius Swerving (0)
2. Calypso North Stars (0)
3. BADDIES (0)
4. A Team Has No Name (+1)
5. Furious Rim Ticklers (-1)
6. NNHS (0)
7. Run and Gun (0)
8. Lexington Steals (0)

BADDIES (60) v. Furious Rim Ticklers (55)

Leotsakos returns to once again lead BADDIES to victory

The BADDIES, after being forced to forfeit last week, came back in force this week. Phil Leotsakos led the way, scoring well over 50% of the team's points with 36 on his own, as every shot was working for him. Leotsakos made 9 shots in the paint as he drove with his head down in full force, but also pulled up effectively from deep, making 5 of 10 of his attempts from deep with a sweet-looking stroke that looked repeatable and reliable. Michael Weinstein was the only other major offensive contributor, as he put on 16 on a bevy of beautiful midrange jumpers that looked like a sure bet to find the bottom of the net each time they left his hands. Matt Roberts led the team in assists with 3, as he used his height to see over the defense and exploit open passing lanes, especially to the aforementioned Leotsakos. The team's height with both Roberts and Leotsakos in the fold is a serious problem for competitors - despite their .500 record, the BADDIES look like a force to be reckoned with if they can get reliable attendance from their two big men. They provide a strong incentive to not drive into the paint against them and on the offensive end, are tough to stop between Leotsakos' driving and shooting ability and Roberts' capability to leverage his height to back a defender down or lay it off to a teammate for an open look. This team has a great shot at emerging from the 4-4 pack that dominates the middle of the division.

The Furious Rim Ticklers on the other hand dropped a game to move into the same .500 pack in the middle of the league, sitting at the bottom of it due to tiebreakers as things stand right now. Once again the team lived and died by their three point percentage, as they made just 9 of their 34 perimeter attempts - a miserable 26.5% that clearly impacted their final tally. Brian Phillips and Jeff Yeakley, the team's biggest volume three point shooters, combined to shoot 25 times from deep and canned only 6 of those attempts, leading to quick, ineffective possessions for the Rim Ticklers and long rebounds leading to quasi-fast break opportunities for the BADDIES which were often converted into points. Despite the Rim Ticklers' biggest asset failing them in this one, however, they managed to keep the contest in close range for the majority of the back and forth affair. The BADDIES started on a great run especially defensively, as the Rim Ticklers' shots refusing to fall led to a 17 to 10 advantage with 8 and a half minutes left in the first half, built upon to get the squad a 29 to 18 advantage. At that point, the Rim Ticklers flipped a switch and went on a 9 to 0 run, cutting the deficit to 29 to 27, and even walking into halftime with a slight lead at 33 to 32. The second half saw the BADDIES' Leotsakos takeover reach new heights, however, and the Furious Rim Ticklers didn't seem to have the size and athleticism combination in a single player that could stop him. Yancy Brown and Yeakley did their best to score enough to offset the defensive issues, but their 16 each in the end couldn't match their opponents' production. It was a tough loss that saw them sink to 6th in the standings - and as a reward, they'll face the league leading Julius Swerving squad next week in a matchup that should showcase plentiful threes from both teams.

Next up:
BADDIES (4-4) at Lexington Steals (0-8) - 11/2 7:00p
Furious Rim Ticklers (4-4) v. Julius Swerving (7-1) - 11/2 9:00p

Player of the Game: Phil Leotsakos - 36 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

Power Rankings:
1. Julius Swerving (0)
2. Calypso North Stars (0)
3. BADDIES (+2)
4. Furious Rim Ticklers (-1)
5. A Team Has No Name (+1)
6. NNHS (-2)
7. Run and Gun (0)
8. Lexington Steals (0)