WESTMINSTER, CO: Championship Tuesday | Who Brings Home the Banner?

It has been a banner season for the Westminster Ultimate Hoops Winter League. The league has grown to 11 teams, the playoffs consisted of ten squads and, for the first time ever, Westminster will be sending a team to the National Tournament. While all that is great, we still have some unfinished business to tend to. I'm talking about the Final Four.

It is the final Tuesday night in Westminster, and only four teams are left standing: Hard Work, Impact Basketball, Man Bear Pig, and The Great Unknown. Let's take a look at each of these matchups.

Semi-Final #1: Man Bear Pig vs. Hard Work

In this matchup, we have the five seed, Man Bear Pig, taking on the undefeated one seed, Hard Work. Man Bear Pig has been a great story in Westminster. They started the season losing their first three games by an average of over 37 points a contest, and then won six of their next seven games heading in to the playoffs. Once they reached the playoffs, they dismantled Hoopsters in round one and then took down The Gladiators in the quarterfinals. Man Bear Pig has quite the collection of talent on the squad. They have two Life Time employees in Brad Elliott and Chris Hayes; a former Division-I football player in Derek Elliott; and three wily veterans in Matt Cannizzaro, Chris Ellis and Aaron Lohmann. Throw in two deadly snipers in Joseph McLain and Terry Wald, and you're looking at a complete squad.

The way Man Bear Pig has gotten better each week and grown as a team is something they should be very proud of. They have some of the best team chemistry in the league and the players compliment each other very well. Having said that...

Hard Work has been, as the world famous June Bug calls them, the king cobra of the Westminster Winter League. They have steamrolled the competition on their way to an undefeated regular season. They have won their games convincingly, with the exception of their one point win over the two seed, Impact Basketball. Hard Work is led by Shondell Lee, possibly the best player in Westminster. He has power forward size with guard skills, and is a matchup nightmare for anyone. Not to be forgotten is, in my opinion, the best natural point guard in the nation, Carlos Matos. Matos is a floor general in every sense of the word and he leads the charge for Hard Work. Filling out the squad are UH veterans Roger Lester, David Bustamante, and Ruban Rivas, as well as UH newcomer Rashawn Williams. All of these guys can knock down the open shot and have become very reliable "glue guys" for Hard Work.

While I expect this game to be much, much closer than it was in Week One, I still think Hard Work will prevail in this one by double digits and move on to the Championship Game.

Semi-Final #2: The Great Unknown vs. Impact Basketball

The other semi-final matchup is the second seed, Impact Basketball taking on the seven seed, The Great Unknown.

The Great Unknown is a very talented basketball squad. They are led by UH veterans Chad Smith and TJ Cyriacks, who you can find all over the Ultimate Hoops record books. The Great Unknown has a world of potential and have even held a lead in just about every game this season, but find themselves running out of gas in the second half of games. It seems like they are peaking at the right time because they are matched up against the defending champs, Impact Basketball.

The Impact Basketball roster, one through seven, could be one of the most talented rosters in the nation. They are led by Beau Barney, Jimmy Binnie and Mike Brooks, and are surrounded by great role players. For the most part, Impact has dominated the competition, with the only blemish on their record being a one point loss to the undefeated Hard Work.

In order for The Great Unknown to pull off the upset, they will need to play a very smart, sound game against Impact Basketball. They will need Cyriacks and Smith to do what they do, and they'll also need Nick Nizam to knock down the open three and Lance Schiola to grab every rebound like his name is Dennis Rodman. With all that being said, I see Impact Basketball winning a closer game than people expect, and moving on to the championship game.

(Expected) Championship Game: Impact Basketball vs. Hard Work

This is the matchup everyone is expecting and, quite frankly, the matchup most people want to see. As I said above, these two teams squared off in Week Six and was an instant classic, with Hard Work winning the game by one. Impact was missing one of their key players in Jimmy Binnie, but Hard Work was still the better team that night.

There won't be a lack of talent or firepower on the court for this one. The best basketball players will be on the hardwood on Tuesday night. The difference, for me, is the lack of true point guard on Impact Basketball and the fact that Hard Work has the best point guard around. We all know Shondell Lee, Beau Barney, and Binnie will get theirs. With Carlos Matos leading the way, I expect Hard Work to win this one in "instant classic part two" fashion.