MEMPHIS: MonStars win second straight title | A new dynasty in Collierville?

Story by Brandon Parham

How appropriate that we end this season the same way we started it. Last night’s championship game was a rematch of the very first game played of this winter season as #1 seed MonStars squared off against the #4 seed NorthStars.

It was a tightly contested game with neither team able to extend their lead to anything larger than six through the first half. With 20 seconds left and the score tied at 44 the MonStars went to a four corners offense to try and ensure the last shot of the half. Team Captain and freshly minted league MVP Tyjuan Wallace decided he wanted his team to be more aggressive and demanded the ball. He took a shot from about 15’ out in his best LeBron last second shot imitation. The rest of the MonStars weren’t quite as confident in Wallace’s shot considering he’d started the game shooting 1-5 from the floor. The shot rimmed out but Edward Graves, the MonStars most consistent rebounder all year, aggressively attacked the glass and was able to score a tip in at the buzzer to give the MonStars the edge at half 46-44.

Both teams seemed a bit gassed on their respective benches during the half and understandably so, considering the frenetic pace that was pushed in the 1st half as both teams suffered streaky shooting but got up as many shots as possible. If you just watched the game and weren’t allowed to look at the scoreboard you would’ve assumed the MonStars went into the half with at least a ten point lead instead of the two point advantage they were lucky to get right at the buzzer. Ruben Williams seemed be the only player on the court not suffering from streaky shooting and his hot hand was what kept the NorthStars so close.

Moving into the 2nd half the tempo stayed pretty high but unfortunately for the NorthStars their shots still weren’t falling and the MonStars picked up the defensive intensity on Ruben Williams, double teaming him every time he touched the ball and denying him when he was off of it. The MonStars were able to stretch their lead to 10 points and it would hover around that spread through the end of the game with final ending up at 93-81.

Tyjuan Wallace was selected as the league MVP for his consistent efforts week in and week out and based on his GM skills in putting together his 2nd championship team. Wallace was able to put together a MonStars team that dominated the 3-on-3 tournament hosted here in Collierville in November of last year. Wallace had season averages of 23.3pts, 7.4reb, 1.1ast while shooting 69% from the field including 50% from behind the arc and 66% from the charity stripe. Wallace was hands down the most dominating post presence in the league this year and regularly fought through hard fouls on his way up for layups and dunks. Congrats to Tyjuan and the MonStars on a great season. Let’s see if they’ll be back to defend their title and try and put together a run of championships reminiscent of GM and captain Penny Hardaway and his 8-time champion J&L Express teams!

Don’t forget to sign up for our Spring League starting April 7! Stop by the Activity Desk to register in club or register online right now by CLICKING HERE.