The Fight for First Continues in the James Lee League of Champions

In a night full of deep threes, no look passes, and alley-oop dunks, the playoff race in the James Lee League of Champions got even tighter at both ends of the table with just one regular season game remaining.

Both Team Showtime and No Dayz Off came in knowing they needed a win to secure the 6^th and final playoff seed, while Team Buckets and Squad Black knew a loss would cost them a chance at the top seed and a bye in the playoffs.

However on this night, the underdogs were overwhelmed by the pace and athleticism of two favorites to take home the title in late August.

In the first game of the evening, Team Buckets, scored at will in a game chalk full of unbelievable highlights.  Andre Birdsong of Team Showtime got it started, taking the opening tip straight to the rack for the one-hand-jam.  Birdsong, who has signed on to play for Riverland College in Minnesota next season, knocked down two 3-pointers to keep pace with his high flying opponents, but when he cooled off, Team Buckets was far from finished.

In transition, Hilton High’s Kendall Hargove and Potomac’s Jordan McCain were practically un-guardable.   The ability of McCain and others to dominate the defensive glass allowed them to fast break early and often, and he and Hargove finished off countless opportunities at the other end, as the game quickly got out of hand.

“I believe we have the most athletic team in the league,” head coach Erin Daise said afterwards.  “Anytime we can get out and run we will.”

The star duo, who will both be attending Mount Olive College in the fall, continued to dominate in the second half, combining for 74 points in the contest, Hargrove leading the way with 42, including an pair of vicious tomahawk dunks.

T.C. Williams' standout Rick Matthews did all he could to keep the struggling Team Showtime in the game, scoring 32 points and throwing down a handful of tough two-handed stuffs, but it would not be enough, as Team Buckets cruised to the easy victory.

The style of play abruptly changed in the night’s second game, as both teams came out playing aggressive, and often overly aggressive, defense.   The combination of contested jump shots, frequent foul calls, and a running clock led to a 9-9 stalemate after the first quarter of play.  The teams continued to battle evenly in the second until Squad Black went on a scoring tear to close the half.    Maurice Pheeney, who led all scorers with 20 points, swished a three at the buzzer to give Squad Black at 30-18 lead at the break.

In the second half, No Dayz Off looked to get it al back at once, chucking deep threes and resorting to one-on-one isolations to score.  Squad Black went straight to their strengths, using their guards to break down opponents and get to the basket for easy scores.

“We have the quickest guards in the league,” head coach Barry Jones said afterwards.  “We were playing with an extra guard, so we looked to isolate him on a bigger guy.”

The Edison Eagle duo of Jerome Diggs and Khalil Jabbie were able to capitalize often in the second half, combing for 30 points in the game, and Squad Black extended their lead to 28 points.  But to give credit where it is due, No Dayz off took no time off, and battled it out to the final whistle.  They were able to get the lead back down to 10 with 2 minutes remaining, but it proved to be too little too late.

Now with one week remaining, league cofounders Jones and Daise will lead their teams into one last battle before the playoffs, in a game that will determine not only who gets the number one seed, but also who gets the all important bye in the first round of the playoffs.  Daise and team Buckets won by a point in an earlier matchup, but Jones is confident his teams can get the all important win this time around.

“We have the best defense in the league,” Jones explained.  “They put up a lot of points, but if we play aggressive defense and attack the rim, we have a good chance.”