The second match of the playoffs we had my pick to win the championship, Commando, Vs Them, a team that since they had a full roster have been getting wins. It was a competitive game right from the tip as both teams brought the energy. Jimmy Ward was leading his squad vocally and scoring the ball early. Commando was doing their usual thing playing team basketball. They had a 3 point lead in the first 10 minutes, 16-13. Commando kind of stalled on the offensive side of things after this point only scoring 8 more points for the rest of the half. After it was an 18 -18 tie with 5:45 left, Them went on a 12-6 run to end the half. Jimmy and Andrew Sweet who are both on Them led all scorers with 8 points each. Adwaith Nair was the leading scorer for Commando with 7. The score to end the half was 30-24. Them would need a just as good first half if they wanted to beat Commando.

Them understood the assignment to start the second half as they went on a 7-2 run to take the lead to 11. At this point I was getting nervous that my pick to win the championship was crumbling in the first round. Then it was at this point where things started to turn around for Commando and that’s due to Max Heinrich started to get going after having a quiet first half. As well as 6th man of the season Adam Liu who was scoreless in the first got going in the second. Commando was also able to get a lot of transition buckets after some steals. They would tie up with 6:56 to go. Jimmy was doing all he could to lead his squad to victory but Commando was playing great defense forcing other teammates to shoot shots. Michael Allen and Joe Euele were those guys stepping up. Them would have a 2 point lead with under a minute to go. Commando inbounded it after the time out they called and found Adwaith in corner for a three pointer to take the lead 53-52. Them would have two chances to get the job done but the defense from Commando was just to good down the stretch and forced tough shots for Them. Thems Cinderella game would come to end. Final 53-52.

Commando does it again. Even when they are down they are never out of a game. The phrase of their season continues and thats “find a way”. They have a tough match up against Terminator 2 who is coming off a great playoff victory. As for Them its tough to see them eliminated because they were a fun team but they for sure went out with a bang!

                The second was Mid Range Magic’s last to get a victory before the playoffs start. They were up against one of the favorites to win the chip and that’s Commando. Commando is one of my favorite teams to watch because they are the true definition of what it means to play TEAM basketball. That’s exactly what they did from the start to the end of the game. Adwaith Nair was hitting shots as well as Bryant Backus. They went on a massive run to start the game. It honestly suffocated all the energy MRM came into the game with. They had only field goal and two free throws in the first 14 minutes of the game and only 4 points to show for it. Commando was up 20-4. MRM was able to finally get some baskets at the end of the half from the team’s highest scorer Clifford Bouchereau. Cam Kelly was also getting some shots to fall as both combined for 12 of the 16 points their team scored in the first. Commando was looking to finish out the game strong the next half as it seemed light work for them this game.

                The second half was honestly more of the same of the first half. Commando went on a 12-3 run fast to start. Max Heinrich wanted to get in on the action as he had a quiet 6 points in the first, but he exploded in the second. He started to hit shots from long range and taking it to the rim. Even though Commando was getting outrebounded they still managed to only allow 20 points in the whole half. The physical play by Commando was too much for MRM to handle as they just couldn’t get any momentum going as Commando would close out the game easily. Max was the leading scorer of the game with a solid 18 points. Final score was a blow out 58-36.

                The good news for MRM everyone makes playoffs and records don’t matter everyone is 0-0 and single game elimination so anything can happen. They are going to have to play their best game of the season to have a chance. Commando is just the team that can’t lose. They continue to make plays and play team basketball. Excited to see if they can make a run.