It was the worst of games, it was the best of games. The final week of the season had two games that couldn’t have been more different.

The first game was incredibly exciting in the first half after the Bergen Tropics took early 4-1 and 7-3 leads on the Ferrall Ballerz. The Ballerz would come back with some quick transition and go on an 11-0 run to take a 14-7 lead with 14 minutes left in the 1st half. The Tropics tried to be in it to win it though and worked hard over the next 7 minutes to get the game back within 1 at 21-20 after David Bell (11 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl) completed a 3 point play that forced a Ballerz timeout. They would continue to go back and forth with Tropics retaking the lead at 28-27 with 1:38 left in the first half on a Rob Cohan (10 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) free throw. That would be the last lead they held in the game as Vinnie Graff (30 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl) and Justin Leon (15 pts, 7 ast, 5 reb) both completed 3 point plays before the half to give the Ballerz a 33-28 lead at the break.

The Ballerz would completely take over the 2nd half from the start as a 10-2 run punctuated by a Leon basket, free throw and transition assist on Danny Bronstein’s (14 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 reb) layup forced a Tropics timeout with 17:32 left in the game. Alex Benisatto (22 pts, 6 reb) would try to bring the Tropics back but the Ballerz 11 steals and 23 assists would be too much and the lead just kept ballooning. The Graff show continued the rest of the game as he had a layup that followed a Leon basket to push the lead to 52-35 with 15 minutes left in the game. Then his basket preceded a Scott Ferrall (8 points, 5 reb) circus-like layup that pushed the lead to 62-41 with 10:32 left in the game. The gap just kept getting bigger and eventually the game was called at 78-51 with just over a minute and a half left in the game.

The Ballerz complete another perfect regular season and await the winner of the 4/5 match-up in next weeks semi-finals while the Tropics finished up at 5-3 and will play the Comebacks in the 2/3 semi-final.

The final game of the Winter 2016 regular season would be a much more tightly contested one between the Comebacks and Cowboys. Both teams had to pick up a little help to fill their lineups with some of their leading scorers unavailable and it led to a guard-heavy game with Dahne Menzel (20 pts, 9 reb) standing out as the only true forward. Menzel would make use of that height advantage throughout the game, especially when the time was winding down on both halves.

The Comebacks were most comfortable with each other early and jumped out to early 5-1, 9-3 leads and were then up 13-6 at 13:30 left in the first half on a Gedaliah Lozan (9 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast) 3 point play. The Cowboys would get it together though, as they cut the lead to 11-10 after a steal and transition layup by Joey Tortora (22 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 6 stl) and then take the lead at 16-14 when Griffin Monopetto (6 pts, 3 reb 2 ast) would finish a similar play at 7:40 left in the 1st half. The Comebacks would take control back at 25-20 with 1:30 left before the half after Menzel scored 6 straight points and Danny Readie finished his own short jumper. There were just a few more points scored before the half closed with the Comebacks holding a 26-22 advantage at the break.

It was tight throughout the 2nd half as well with the teams trading baskets and everyone contributing. Both teams shared the ball well and guys like James Espositio (8 pts, 3 ast) helped to contribute to a combined 31 assists. The Comebacks held a large rebounding advantage though (42-27) with Devin Agic (9 pts, 12 reb) leading the way. It was tied coming to the closing seconds, where big players come up big, and the Comebacks big man Menzel did just that as he drained the buzzer beater that gave the Comebacks a 57-55 victory!

The win closes the Comebacks record at .500 (4-4) for the season and they’ll meet up with the Tropics on Wednesday. Meanwhile the Cowboys finished a rough season at 1-7 and will face Uncle Chubby’s next Monday for the right to play the Ballerz on Wednesday.

For the rest of the highlights from these games check out the Week 10 Playlist on our YouTube Page.

Scott Ferrall caught up with players throughout the league as the season wound down to get their thoughts on the upcoming playoffs.