#1 Morningwood vs. #8 Dictators
The #8 Dictators manage to hang around for the majority of the game, however the game was never in doubt as #1 Morningwood comes out on top with a 79-68 win and advance to the second round of the Division 1 Playoffs.
The Dictators actually played two games on Sunday, they defeated Canyon City Basketball by a very very large margin (65-34) in the tiebreaker game to earn the #8 seed and the right to square off with the #1 team in the division. On the other side of things the #1 seeded Morningwood had only 4 active players to start the game, despite having only 4 players Morningwood stayed strong and composed as always and maintained a narrow lead throughout the game, late in the second half with the Dictators closing in and fear that an upset would take place, Derrick Pickett entered the game, this was strange however since Pickett made it clear that he had no intentions to play in this 1st round match-up due to a severely sprained ankle which he was nursing.
With Pickett entering the game the Dictators had to switch to man from their zone defense which was being eaten up by Morningwoods 3-Point specialist Rich Cobarrubias (23 Points, [5/6 from 3-Point Range]). Like most teams, the Dictators had a rough time trying to defend big man Dewayne O’Neal (21 Points, 20 Rebounds). Cobarrubias an O’Neal weren’t the only key players on the court for Morningwood. Their free-agent acqusition Andrae had a tremendous impact on the game, he poured in (24 Points, 2 Assists) to lead all scorers for the game.
Lonnie (18 points, 5 rebounds) was the main staple behind the Dictators offense, Craig and Andrew had a valiant effort, the pair finished with 16 points apiece. Sam was the 4th Dictator player in double figures and finished with (10 points, 5 rebounds). Although the Dictators cam up just short, this team gave a valiant effort.
#1 Morningwood will take on the # 4 Washed Up in the Semi-Finals.
The Dictators look forward to Season 6:Supremacy starting Sept. 25th.
#2 STAT vs. #7 Fly Society
Although the final score of the Fly Society-STAT game looks fairly close, STAT’s domination was not an indication of the final score.
This game was predicted to be a thriller, it game was predicted to be a classic, it was neither, after a rough and slow first quarter where STAT recorded a mere 3 points, Fly Society was in command. They seemed to have things clicking, in the second quarter however Brandon Kinard (21 Points) began his scoring barrage with a host of mid range jumpers. Fly Society’s zone defense was being picked apart piece by piece in that second quarter.
The only thing going right for Fly Society was the play of star player Jaime Villalobos (16 Points) he was the only source of offense, Fly Society’s big man and leading scorer Ralph Chavez ( 9 Points, 6 rebounds) had an off game scoring and rebounding wise. With Chavez having an off game, GM Desean Collins (11 Points) tried his best to assist Villalobos with Chavez not producing.
While Kinard was on a roll for STAT, Kwasi Mensah (10 Points) and Jimmy Nguyen (10 Points) were second in command in the scoring column. The story of the game was STAT’s lockdown defense. They held Fly Societies leading scorer to a season low in points and rebounding.
STAT advances to the 2nd round where they will take on the #3 seeded Knicee. STAT defeated Knicee earlier this season in a dominant performance (56-40).
Fly Society finishes their season with a 2-6 record over-all and look to rebuild for Season 6.
#4 Washed Up vs. #5 Do Work
Washed up has no problems handling Do Work, defeating them 63-54. By doing so Washed Up advances to the second round where they will take on #1 Morningwood in what should be an IBL Classic!
From the onset of this game, the higher seeded team (Washed Up) was in control. Although Do Work had mini spurts of offense on their part to try to keep things close, Washed Up would not let up. They pulled away late in the second half.
Cole (20 Points, 4 Rebounds) led all Do Work scorers, Dominic was the second staple that kept things close for Do Work as he finished with (12 Points, 5 Rebounds), Ronnie rounded out the scoring trio with (8 Points, 2 Rebounds).
Johnny (18 Points, 5 Rebounds) and Micheal Earl (17 Points, 15 Rebounds) were the driving force behind Washed Up’s office, Tony finished with (13 Points, 4 Rebounds) and Mike Criscione rounded out the scoring quartet with (11 Points, 4 Rebounds).
Washed Up will take on. #1 Morningwood in the 2nd round, this is and intriguing match-up, considering Washed Up’s first loss in IBL play was to Morningwood, however Washed Up did not have the services of the Earl Brothers (Johnny and Micheal) at the time.
The Winner of this game would be my favorite to take the Division Championship. Both these teams have defeated the other two team in the other bracket.
#5 Do Work goes back to the drawing board again, they are getting quite youthful, but the potential is there for this team to get back in “IBL’s Elite” conversation.
#3 Knicee vs. #6 IBall
#3 Knicee advances to a second round match-up with #2 STAT after a first round forfeit win over I Ball.
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+ Game Previews, recaps and write-ups are articles written by Nathan Apolonio.
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