SUGARLOAF, GA: Hustle Hard One Game Away from the Finals

Huskies 90, Oldtimers 56

Let the playoffs begin! It was the start of the playoffs for the Sugarloaf Winter Rec League and as anyone would expect, there were some big performances. The first game showcased the 3rd seeded Huskies dueling it out with the 6th seeded Oldtimers. The Oldtimers seemed to have found their groove last week as they started clicking as a team. They were making the right plays and playing better on the defensive end until the final stretch when they seemed to be overtaken by fatigue. Their game against the Huskies was much of the same as Oldtimers came out playing well staying within striking distance until the latter part of the second half. The Huskies made a huge run in the second half to make the deficit unreachable and with a blink of an eye, the margin was 30 points. The Huskies move on to the semi-finals. Shawn Graham had a huge game with an unconventional double-double scoring only 8 points, but grabbing 19 boards and dishing out 10 assists. Monte Bitt had a nice game with a 22 point 11 rebound double-double while Carlos Barnes and Ali Farah both contributed 18 points. Brian Pak of Oldtimers led the way for his team with 21 points and James Pak came one rebound shy of his first career double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Hustle Hard 74, Goober 59
Game 2 of the quarterfinals featured the 4 seeded Hustle Hard facing off against the 5 seeded Goober. The game was intense in the first half as both teams came out ready to play. The defensive intensity was there for both teams and the margin at halftime was 2 with Hustle Hard leading 31-29. The second half featured a different story as Hustle Hard started off by playing full court press defense and forced 4 consecutive turnovers which were all converted for buckets and they took a 10 point lead in the first 2 minutes of the second half. Goober called a timeout to gather themselves and afterward stayed within striking distance until the last ten minutes of the second half. After a few bad shot selections from the Goober, Hustle Hard capitalized by going on a mini run to take a double digit lead down the stretch and the Goober could never recover. In the end, the smothering defense of the up and coming Hustle Hard squad proved to be too much as they won with a final margin of 74-59. Hustle hard had a balanced attack with four players scoring in double figures. Calver Leslie had a team high 16 points and tallied 4 steals. Ivan Ramos and Justin Croom scored 15 and 14 points, respectively. Terrence Paton chipped in with 13 points. Dawayne Burton of Goober led his team with a 20point/11rebound double-double. Steve Yi chipped in with 15 points knocking down 3 more treys to finish out the season with 28 3-pointers made through 5 games.