MONTVALE, NJ: A Lucky Break?

Things have suddenly gotten a lot more interesting at Montvale UHoops, and not just because we had two scares in a single game. Rather, it was the performance of two teams that just might put a scare into the rest of the league.

It was supposed to be Old School and the Young Gelt Militia all the way. Well, not so fast. RUNt handled YGM from start to finish. Shocking? Not really, considering the love we gave them last week by saying they may be the most talented squad here. RUNt outshot and overpowered the youngsters. BUT it is interesting to note that just when YGM appeared to be closing the gap and tiring out their opponents, things literally broke RUNts way.

A Mike Shaw foul (no harm meant) sent YGM’s Jordan Lazarus crashing into a glass pane on the wall behind the basket. It shattered. With the clock winding down in the game, the time needed to clear away the debris certainly interrupted the flow of action. Ironically enough, it was Shaw who collided with YGM’s Justin Weinfeld just a few minutes later, causing another significant delay as both players rightfully needed time to deal with their injuries.

When action resumed, RUNt re-gained their composure and wound up winning by a nice margin. So we must ask….Would RUNt have held on if not for the two significant time stoppages? Would they have run out of gas? The two teams have now each won once against one another. It would be awfully fitting if they met again for the whole thing in a few weeks.

But wait… There’s more! Not to be forgotten amidst the aforementioned chaos is Team Justin, whose win over Old School was not easy to see coming. The boys seemed to get offended when asked about their so-called surprise win.



However, it does beg the question: Is Old School old news? They haven’t exactly dominated, and while it’s not their style either, you can’t help but wonder if they are vulnerable. Is a team getting hot on offense like Justin did a recipe for success to beat these guys?

The top two teams record-wise just went down. At this point, who is the real favorite to win it all?