After six weeks of play Court Justice remains undefeated, while dissension threatens to torpedo Norfolk N’ Chance’s playoff hopes.
Buffalo, NY- After six weeks of play we are officially entering the home stretch. In the Western Division it is busy at the top as the VeryAggressiveGuys, JLin & The Temptations, Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy and the Billies are all battling for control of the division. On the other end of the standings THE Goon Squad and Phi Slamma Jamma are both desperately searching for their first wins of the season. Unless something changes soon, each of their postseason dreams might come down to one game. On April 21 they face off against each other in the 3pm game. That one game could very well determine who gets sent home early and who advances to the playoffs to continue to chase a title.
With that being said, Phi Slamma Jamma has had victory within its grasp on numerous occasions this season, with it being cruelly taken away in the end. Week 6 was no different. They played Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy tough, taking them to halftime knotted up at 24. Yet as time winded down Brandon Dudek (10 points), Clayton Hess (11 points), and Troy Langworthy (12 points) took advantage of Phi Slamma Jamma down low and took control of the game to finish them off 54-45. BSWA newcomer Brian Jolley (16 points) continues to be the silver lining for Phi Slamma Jamma and could give the franchise a solid foundation to build upon going forward.
In Game 2, the VeryAggressiveGuys knocked off THE Goon Squad to get back in the win column after a heartbreaking defeat in week five. Ben Walkow led the VeryAggressiveGuys with 15 points, while Ryan McCarthy had a game high 17 points for THE Goon Squad.
The Fastbreakers got off to an explosive start against the Flint Tropics in the 5 pm game, knocking down five three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. However, what seemed to be a gift proved to be a curse in the end as their reliance on the deep game got them away from their strength which was their massive size advantage against the small Flint Tropics team. Jerome Matthews led the comeback, scoring a game high 29 points to lead the Tropics to a 72-60 victory.
JLin & The Tempatations continued their storied season with a big win against a listless The U.H. team. Captain Mike Capuana (5 points) needs to dig deep and do some soul-searching after this loss, as his squad seems to be a mere shadow of its former self. Life won’t get any easier for The U.H. next week as they visit the VeryAggresiveGuys.
In the game of the week, R.I.P. Ent pulled out a big OT victory against Sponge Bob Square Pants. Sponge Bob welcomed the return of BSWA legend Matt Tucholski after a brief hiatus. Unfortunately it was not the storybook return he had hoped for as Dwayne Jackson had a career game for R.I.P. Ent to spoil his homecoming and wrap up the 80-77 win. Jackson scored a career high 25 points, picking up the slack for a hobbled R.I.P. Ent squad, who are dealing with a number of injuries on their team.
Court Justice kept their undefeated season alive with a 78-70 win over White Men Can’t Jump. Perry Davis had a couple of highlight reel worthy dunks, but it wasn’t enough slow down the Court Justice juggernaut, who at this point in the season appear to be the clear favorites to bring home the title. Their combination of depth and intensity seems to be without equal this season.
Carlos Hawkins stole the show in the 9pm game as Concrete knocked off CKNY. GM/Captain Gary Lee made a splash by picking up Carlos Hawkins off waivers following the Easter break, “I was surprised no one had picked him up. He’s the key to turning our season around. The sky is the limit with Carlos on the team”, said Lee. Hawkins led all scorers with 34 points in the 71-64 win.
There was plenty of drama in the building for the final game of the night as a struggling Norfolk N’ Chance team played a scrappy Raw Dawgs squad, whose style of play seems to correlate perfectly with their name. It was anybody’s game after the first half of play as the Raw Dawgs took a small lead into the second, but it quickly began to unravel for Norfolk N’ Chance as tensions began to boil between feuding BSWA stars Jon Plail and John Papincak. BSWA analysts described the friction as the Champions League equivalent to the feuding egos of the Lakers Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant of the early 2000’s, which eventually led to the departure of O’Neal. It is too early to say how this story plays out, but for this week it was too much to overcome as Darrik Bloomfield (16 points) led the Raw Dawgs to their fourth win of the season, 66-50.
Leave A Comment