In a Tucson Basketball League version of an Instant Classic, the Jegos and Smokin' 3s put on an incredible show, with the Jegos hanging on for a 68-66 victory in the first round of the Fall 2024 playoffs. In a game that saw several lead changes in the final five minutes, the Jegos scored in the final 20 seconds to take the lead and then held on as Smokin' 3s missed two shots, one that could have tied it and the other that could have won it.
The term "Jegos" is a Tohono O'Odham word for the powerful wind that precedes a summer thunderstorm. It was also the name for the Tohono O'Odham Community College team that had several really successful seasons playing in the Arizona Junior College league (against the likes of Pima and Cochise) before being unceremoniously shut down by a tone-deaf administration. (The TBL's Jegos actually wear some of the jerseys from those college teams.)
Much of the game followed a familiar pattern. The Smokin' 3s, led by Anthony Vogt, would hit a couple long-range shots and ease out to a six- or seven-point lead before the Jegos would claw their way back into. Midway through the second half, Smokin' opened up a 10-point lead and it appeared that it was an insurmountable lead. Then, something funny happened. Somebody on Smokin' 3s called Jego player Jeff Juan old. On a shit-talking scale of 1-10, that's about a 0.2. And the fact is that Jeff is kinda' old to be playing at the level that he is in the League. (He's like the mythical Asian woman whose age can't be discerned by sight.)
Whatever the case, they shouldn'ta' told him that. He hit a three (usually not his shot), grabbed a tough defensive rebound, scored inside, then got an and-one inside and, all of a sudden, it's a two-point game. It went back and forth after that. The Jegos will face the Underdogs in a semifinal game on Sunday.
Because of gym availability issues (and leftover holiday crapola), we will have most of the semifinal games this Sunday and the rest on December 8th. The championship games will be held on December 15. The games that we will have on December 8th include:
Splash Pad - JAK
Cardinals - Sleeper Squad
Blue Coconuts - Icy Hots
YSL - Air Jesus
Gila Monsters - Bandits
Killer Whales - Soul Snatchers
Marana Monarchs - The Heat
Redmen - [Enter Team Name Here]
East Side High - Shoot Your Shot
AZ Knights - Hickory
We are acutely aware than nobody likes byes during the playoffs. However, there is only one way to have bye-free playoffs and that is to cut down the number of teams in the playoffs. Maybe someday the League will get down to 40 or 50 teams (I hope not). Or, we could have a system where not every team makes the playoffs. Multiple people have suggested that to me over the decades. But, for 37 years, every team has made the playoffs and that's not going to change now.
