A pair of intriguing contests awaits the crowd that will assemble inside Ontario High School’s gym this Sunday evening for the Season 11 IBL Championship Weekend. The Stage has been set for the Division 1 and 2 finals. However 4 teams will have their eyes set on the Division 3 crown.
In the first game, scheduled to tip off just after 5:10 p.m, the Burger Kings, the No. 2 seed with a 7-1 record, will meet Coast2Coast, a six seed coming in off a win over No. 3 seed Mighty Healthy in the opening round. This weekend, the Burger Kings make their third consecutive trip to the divisions semi finals. This isn’t unfamiliar territory for this battle tested team. The Burger Kings have played in countless semifinal games. A few players on the roster have even played in the championship game. The last time we seen the Burger Kings in the Championship was Season 9 when they lost to the repeating champion HiiiPower. The Burger Kings defeated the No. 9 seed Skywalkers (69-46) last weekend in Claremont, behind the outstanding play of Charles Grays, David Aguilera (20 points each) and Vince Pryor (16 pts, 10 rbs) Joshua Payne and Mike Criscione also have made important contributions throughout BK’s season but were not in action last weekend.
Coast2Coast overcame the ever so daunting task of playing on Court 2 to prevail over third seed Mighty Healthy in the quarterfinals last Sunday. Paced by the terrific play of Jairo Lopez (26 pts, 14 rbs) , they are hoping to clinch the team’s first championship berth. However this will be an uphill climb. After Lopez, you have to scan up and down the roster to find another player on the roster who is a viable offensive threat.
Players to Watch:
Burger Kings: Vince Pryor – No one on Coast2Coast is capable of keeping Pryor in front of them. If his shot is falling early, it’s going to be a long day for Coast2Coast.
Coast2Coast: Jesus Alvarez – Alvarez will have to do all the dirty work for his team. That means clean up on the boards and make the hustle plays.
Wonton Soup vs. California Raisins
Now it wouldn’t be the IBL playoffs if the Cali Raisins and Wonton Soup didn’t meet. Sunday’s second Division 3 game will feature a the No.1 Seed California Raisins as they take on longtime rival Wonton Soup who finished the regular season as the fourth seed. Wonton Soup is making their 5th trip to a divisional Final Four since Season 3 . After upsetting last season’s champs the MadVillians in the first round.
The Raisins on the other hand; shot their way past Slaughterhouse in a 79-49 debacle.Both teams met in Week 2 with the Raisins coming away with a 59-52 win. However no matter how many times the Raisins beat the Soup in the Regular season. They always find a way to lose in the playoffs. It’s sort of like a curse.GM Ashwin Sharma’s squad last reached the Final Four in Season 7, when they won it all.
Forward Jamaal Logan (16.2 ppg) leads Wonton Soup in scoring, followed by guard Brandon Taylor (11.9 ppg) and guard Demetre Smith (11.3 ppg). After two up & down seasons with the California Swag Bears, Jaden Radcliffe jumped ship and leads the Raisins in scoring with (14.3 ppg) Kenny Saldana is the team’s second leading scorer with (13.1 ppg).
Players to Watch:
Wonton Soup: Josh Johnson– the Honey badger seems to show up in big games and seems to always performs well while playing the Raisins.
California Raisins: Korey Davis – Davis has been spotty all season, but with a trip to the championship game on the line look for him to have a big game, doing all the little things to help his team win.
IBL Full Court Press 