WESTMINSTER, CO: Playoffs | New Champs are Crowned!

Final Four Game 1: Impact Basketball vs. Premature Shooters

The first final four game of the night had Impact Basketball matched up with the Premature Shooters. The game got off to a very slow start, with Impact Basketball leading 3-2 at the five minute mark in the first half. While both teams were playing solid defense to start the game, the biggest factors in the slow starts was sloppy play and missed opportunities. Once both teams were able to get in the flow of the game, better basketball was being played. Neither team gave an inch and the score going in to the half was 31-30. In the second half, Impact came out firing, with Beau Barney making clutch shots in the paint and beyond the arc, and Erin Williams hitting a pair of three pointers that broke the game open for Impact. Not getting lost in the shuffle for Impact was point guard Carlos Matos, who led the team in scoring with 19 points, leading the team to a 65-51 victory.

Final Four Game 2: The Kardashians vs. Slam Drunk

The second game of the night was an extremely entertaining one, which had The Kardashians going up against Slam Drunk. Slam Drunk led for most of the first half, but a run by The Kardashians late in the first half gave them the lead. The Kardashians looked to take all of the momentum heading in to the second half, but a big rebound and three pointer at the buzzer by Gehrick Dickson swung momentum in Slam Drunk’s favor, despite being down 44-40 at the half. The second half was just as entertaining as the first, with The Kardashians holding the lead for the entire, but not by more than eight points at any time. Dickson did all he could to keep Slam Drunk in the game, with the performance of the night: 39 points and 20 rebounds, with eight of those boards coming on the offensive side of the ball. In the end, The Kardashians, led by Josh Ralfs with 25 points and Nick Nizam and Richard Peterson each with 20, won their final four game 92-85.

Championship Game: Impact Basketball vs. The Kardashians

The championship game for the 2014 Westminster Winter League pitted two teams that finished the regular season 8-1 records; Impact Basketball and The Kardashians. Even though they were the one and three seeds, because of tiebreakers, many people expected these two teams to face off for the championship, and let me tell you…they didn’t disappoint.

Impact Basketball came out of the gates firing, jumping out to a 10-0 lead before The Kardashians knew what hit them. The Kardashians had to burn a timeout a lot earlier than most teams would like, but it proved to be a smart maneuver as The Kardashians made a run of their own, to cut the lead to one at 15-14 with a little over 12 minutes in the first half. Impact took the shot to the mouth and fired one right back, heading in to the half with a commanding 37-22 lead.

The second half of the championship game lived up to the hype, as Impact Basketball did everything in their power to get rid of The Kardashians, but The Kardashians weren’t going anywhere (much like the actual Kardashian family.) The Kardashians kept chipping away at the lead, knocking it down to six with a little over 10 minutes to play; bringing it down to four with under eight minutes to play; and then down to one with less than four minutes in the game. Impact was leading 55-53 as the game went in to the final minute; The Kardashians couldn’t make a bucket to tie or take the lead, and had to resort to fouling Impact to get the ball back. In what was the most heads-up play of the night, as the game was still hanging in the balance, Impact was playing keep-away from The Kardashians. As The Kardashians were trying to foul, Mike Brooks was passed the ball, waiting for a Kardashian to come foul him. A split second before Roger Lester fouled him, Brooks, who led all scorers with 21 points, went in to the act of shooting a three pointer, resulting in three free throws. Brooks made the first two, missed the third but grabbed his own rebound, which iced the game for Impact Basketball. Along with Brooks, Impact was also led by Beau Barney, who scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. The Kardashians had three scorers in double digits, led by Richard Peterson. After the game, when asked if he expected to repeat as champions, Impact co-captain Nick Williams responded by saying, “Of course! Isn’t that why you play the game? To win?”