Women’s League
For the women’s league, playoffs started last week with regular season standings deciding the matchups: 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3.
Game#1: #3 North Island College 58 VS #2 AV Financial 44
The opening game of the evening featured two even teams that had just battled last week with AV Financial taking a 4-point victory. This week ended in a different result.
The first half went back and forth with even play from both teams. North Island College took command in the second half as their shots continued to fall, while AV Financial went cold. North Island College’s top scorers were Mercedes Brown with 24 points and Kenna Harding with 14 points. The top scorer for AV Financial was Sam Jeffery with 9 points.
Game#2: #1 R.Schut Construction 63 VS #4 RE/MAX Mid-Island 60
R.Schut Construction had dismantled RE/MAX last week by 20 points, so many spectators expected the same in this game. However, RE/MAX was determined to put up a fight, and they did. Chaeli Ambrose hit three threes in a row, pushing RE/MAX to a healthy lead. R.Schut dug deep and battled hard after half time to come back for the win, putting them into the finals. Top scorers for R.Schut were Tia Anderson with 18 points and Norina Dass with 15 points. Top scorers for RE/MAX were Chaeli Ambrose with 19 points and Mya Smith with 17 points.
This week is the final week of games for both men’s and women’s leagues. The women’s championship takes place at ADSS on Tuesday, June 6:
6:30 - Finals: R.Schut Construction VS North Island College
7:30 - 3rd/4th Place: AV Financial VS RE/MAX Mid-Island
Men’s League:
In the final week of round robin play-off action, the P.A. Men’s Basketball League featured the Pool B teams (#2 Boston Pizza, #4 Tseshaht Market, #6 Twisted Willow Studio). As with the previous week’s round robin action, the lowest seed must play their two games within the same league night. This night, Twisted Willow Studio was scheduled for double header action. In Pool A, Ladybird and Co-op were on tap to lock horns once again. The results led to an unlikely underdog, who had this week off, sneaking into the championship game (based on point differential).
Game#1: Twisted Willow Studio 67 — Tseshaht Market 75
First-half pace was determined early by Bobby Rupert, for Twisted, and Brenden Lundy-Sam, for Tseshaht as both rained down buckets from 3-point land. Both were pivotal in the 37-42 half-time score, as Bobby scored 23 of his 27 and Brenden had 15 of his 24. In the second half, both teams sought better ball distribution. Evan Peters was able to rack up 15 for Twisted to help keep this team close. Eddie Fred’s 15 and Rune Sinclair’s second half board dominance helped Tseshaht Market hold serve to squeak out a much-needed victory.
Game#2 : Ladybird Engraving 73 — Co-op 74
This was a grudge-match a season in the making. Ladybird Engraving was the team that originally knocked Co-op from its undefeated perch and began their three-game losing streak they carried into the round robin. It was clear early on that avenging that loss was at the forefront of Co-op’s mind. They dominated the boards and steals throughout the first half. Implementing an aggressive defensive strategy, they looked to shut down Ladybird’s top scoring threat and jump into every passing lane. Ladybird countered with a timeout adjustment midway into the half to rally back into the game. Halftime score: 41-37 Co-op. The second half Coby Felsman got hot, registering 21 of his 29 points. Mike Lange scored 29 points for Ladybird to help them keep pace. A Ladybird missed free-throw at one end followed by a mishandled defensive rebound at the other—with seconds left— allowed Co-op to get their revenge.
Game#3: Twisted Willow Studio 79 — Boston Pizza 81
With a win, Boston Pizza would book their ticket to the championship game, but Twisted Willow Studio was looking to play the part of the spoiler. BP’s saw point contribution from all but one man on their roster in the first half, while Twisted Willow relied on Bobby Rupert to lead the way with 23 of their team’s 34 halftime points. In the second half, Twisted’s offense looked confident, going toe-to-toe with BP shooters. Bobby Rupert scored 41 and Kenneth Johnson had 16 in the effort that just fell short. Boston Pizza rides into the championship this week, on the heels of a 32 and 18-point night from Gabriel Barbosa and Adam Yaradic, respectively.
The men’s league championship take place at ADSS this Thursday:
6:30 PM 5th/6th Place Match-up: Co-op vs Twisted Willow Studio
7:30 PM 3rd/4th Place Match-up: Ladybird Engraving VS Tseshaht Market
8:30 PM Championship: Dave Ralla VS Boston Pizza.