Kronies Jamfest Champions!

Kronies Jamfest 3 comes to a climactic finish, completing what was definitely the best season yet.

Buffalo, NY-  The conclusion to Buffalo’s #1 basketball league was nothing short of epic.  Three of the four championship games went right down to the wire and the inaugural All-Star game delivered a star studded affair of Buffalo’s finest ball players.

The first game of the day was the Eastern Conference Consolation Bowl.  DJ Dovey Ent came hungry, but would it be enough to knock off the Kronies Jamfest 2 scoring champion Marc Antecki and the Hoosiers?  Both teams started the game on fire as Jordan Vaccaro (14 points) knocked down four three pointers in the first half, while Marc Antecki scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half.  In the second half both teams locked down on defense as the Hoosiers held on to their slim lead to pull out the win and become the Eastern Conference Consolation Bowl Champions!

Nick Battaglia drives to the basket against Tom Dagonese

Next up was the battle for the Western Conference Consolation Bowl as John Bowen and Healthy Buffalo looked to slow down Team Rocket who were peaking at just the right time.  Nick DeMonte did his best to make a case for an appearance in next seasons three point shootout with an incredible performance from behind the stripe, knocking down 5 0f 6 attempts, while All-Stars John Bowen (28 points) and Gary Lee (12 points) also had strong outings.  Lenny ‘Lenniforous’ Frears (19 points) continued his strong play and Team Rocket captain Nick Battaglia scored a season high seven points, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Healthy Buffalo as they pulled out the 62-46 point win.

By 3pm the Consolation Bowls were determined and it was on to the winners bracket.  First up was the Western Conference championship between the VeryAggressiveGuys and number one seeded Team First, who were looking to put an exclamation point on a storybook season.  The VeryAggressiveGuys jumped out to a 20-8 lead as a number of steals led to quick buckets on the other end.  Mike Bennett, still upset with the snub on the All-Stat ballot, played another excellent game leading the VeryAggressiveGuys with 23 point.  Bashir Ansari (10 points) did his best to get Team First back in the game, but they couldn’t quite manage to overcome the early deficit as the VeryAggressiveGuys brought home the massive 36″ Kronies Jamfest Championship trophy in a 54-48 point win.

Next up was the highly anticipated match-up between reigning Kronies Jamfest champions R.I.P. Ent and Court Justice.  This one was sure to be like a buzz-saw smashing into semi as smack talking James Mallory locked heads against the no-nonsense tough guy Darcell Thomas.  Both squads came ready to play for this one and after twenty minutes of play the score was knotted at 27 a piece.  From the beginning this game was destined to go down to the last possession and sure enough it was.  With five seconds left R.I.P. Ent in-bounded the ball to Mitch Reese, who has scored a number of game winning baskets over the course of the season.  Reese got off a good shot with with three seconds remaining but it rimmed out and went right to Darcell Thomas who tipped it in as time expired to pull off the miraculous win and became the first two-time champions in Kronies Jamfest history.

The Inaugural Kronies Jamfest All-Star Game

The Kronies Jamfest All-Star Game MVP Elton Frazier

Following the championship games was the in inaugural Kronies Jamfest All-Star game, of which ten players were selected by a popular fan vote with online polling and the other ten were hand picked by BSWA staff and administrators.  The whole affair was a bonafide success as the leagues top players faced off in a friendly match that was low on defense and high long range three pointers, behind-the-back passes, and mind blowing slam dunks.  Matt Tucholski threw down a monster alley-oop dunk, Jon ‘Baby Shaq’ Burgio even got up to throw down a one-handed dunk.  Elton Frazier had his share of high flying theatrics, as did Moe Bailey.  But the top play of the day had to be the half court bounce pass alley-oop from Elton Frazier to John Papincak who caught the ball in flight and threw down the ridiculous two-handed reverse dunk.  Elton Frazier brought home the All-Star MVP award and the SJP Federal Credit Union All-Star pulled out the 122-112 point victory.

Kronies Jamfest 4

Now that Kronies Jamfest 3 is in the books, it is time to get ready for Kronies Jamfest 4, which tips off on Sunday, March 4th.  Rosters and league fee are due on or before Wednesday, February 29th.  No exceptions.  Take the next three weeks to polish up your game and get ready for another great season of Kronies Jamfest: Buffalo’s Premier Basketball League.