We'll get to that headline game in a minute, but first the scores from Championship Sunday. All of the winners are Division champions and will receive really cool championship shirts.
Paper Route Hoopers 47, Shoot Your Shot 45
Outlawz 57, Cardinals 55
Cool Arrows 80, Smokin' 3s 65
The Show 49, Underdogs 43
Crew 2.0 59, Dad Bods 50
Splash Pad 61, Most Hated 54 (3 OT)
Hickory 54, Frosty Hesson 52
Black Mambas 68, Johnny Utah 59
Basketball Junkies 39, Soldierz 34
Showtime 66, Mambas 53
Bandits 61, YSL 49
Mustangs #2 72, Soul Snatchers 61
Bench Bros 87, East Side High 62
Bob Ross In The Paint 73, Heat Check 67
Los Suns 73, Los Chivos 71 (OT)
There you have it. Ten of the 15 games were decided by single digits (including four two-point games), four other by low double-digits, and only one blowout. It was a great day of games, one made even better by a constant thread of sportsmanship that ran through every contest. Game after game went right down to the wire, but when the final buzzer sounded, there were handshakes and hugs and mutual appreciation for what had just transpired. It was a game, played hard and played with passion, but, in the end, just a game.
A bit of history: The strangest game in the history of the Tucson Basketball League happened about 10 years ago. It was not only a playoff game; it was a championship game. It involved the team now known as Just a Game. They were down one with a few seconds left in the game. Lalo Ramos got the ball in the paint, did a slick spin move, and put up a soft floater. As the clock ticked down, the ball danced on the rim, finally coming to rest on the heel of the rim as time expired. It didn't go in, it didn't fall away. It just came to a complete halt as the buzzer sounded. Jump ball, game over. One of the strangest things I've ever seen. What a way to lose.
On Sunday, Outlawz were cruising in their game against the Cardinals. The Outlawz held a 17-point lead at the half and were in total control of the game...until they weren't. In the first 14 minutes of the second half, the Cardinals outscored Outlawz 29-2! The Cardinals, shooting lights out, grabbed a 10-point lead and suddenly they looked unstoppable...until they weren't. In the final four minutes of the game, Outlawz shook off the funk and outscored the Cardinals 16-4 down the stretch to win the game, 57-55. Absolutely bizarre.
In other games, Shoot Your Shot (somewhat ironically) had a three-point shot with seconds to go that would have won the game, but it bounced off the rim as they fell to Paper Route Hoopers, 47-45. The much-anticipated game in the top division between Basketball Junkies and Soldierz turned into a defensive struggle with the Junkies prevailing, 39-34. Players on both teams commented on how tightly the game was officiated, but like I tell the girls on my Amphi team, refs don't have to adjust to the players; the players need to adjust to the refs. With all the great players in that game, they had to know that, in a close matchup like that, the team that does the better job of adjusting to the officiating and the tempo of the game is probably going to win. And in the final game of the night, both Los Chivos and Los Suns hit two clutch threes in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime, where the Suns won, 73-71.
A quick note: L.J. Turner, a star player on Team UGLY, beat me in a game of dominoes yesterday. In the early days of the TBL, we always had a chess game going on the sidelines. But my personal record was rather one-sided (it ended with a zero after the hyphen), so we switched to dominoes. The best (and worst) thing about dominoes is that there is never going to be an undefeated player. The best player in the world can get bad hands and the average player can get great hands. But, since most players get middling hands and then it depends on quick and complex (Bayesian theorem) math to be done in one's head, I should win more often than I lose.
I actually had a couple decent hands in the game, but L.J. thwarted me at every turn and played skillfully. After the loss, I looked forward to completing the standard two-out-of-three, but he took his win and booked. Lame, but understandable. Maybe someday, I'll get a rematch.
The Fall 2024 season starts this coming Sunday, September 1st. We need to get started to make sure that we can get all the games in comfortably before the holidays. (The fact that we need four Sundays instead of three to complete the playoffs is a big factor.) Also, while we won't be interrupted by any tournaments in the Fall, we also won't have any days where we have all of the courts all day long. They have the little kids doing basketball in the morning and a little bit of volleyball in the afternoon. Plus, the venue is allowing the abomination of indoor soccer to eat up some court-hours. We'll be fine. I'll use my new algorithm to cut down on byes. It's going to be great.
REMEMBER: All teams must have matching jerseys or T-shirts with numbers on the back. NO EXCEPTIONS. We're not only the best League, we're also going to be the best-dressed League.