WESTMINSTER, CO: Championship | 11 and Oh So Perfect

The final night of the greatest season in Westminster Ultimate Hoops history didn't disappoint with great basketball being played in both semifinal games, and a championship game for the ages.

Semifinal #1: Hard Work-107 Man Bear Pig-67

This one had the makings of a classic trap game for Hard Work. They were playing a team that they rolled early in the season and were missing one of their big inside defenders; they had two weeks off and could be dealing with some rust; and their likely next opponent was a team that they only beat by one point. Hard Work shut down any notion of a trap game instantly.

This game was over shortly after tip-off. If you blinked, you missed Hard Work jumping out to an 8-0 lead in just under two minutes. It seemed that Hard Work couldn’t miss a shot if they tried, jumping out to a 53-27 halftime lead. The defensive intensity may have let up a little bit in the second half, but that can be expected when you have such a big lead. Nonetheless, they still outscored Man Bear Pig 54-40 in the second half, on their way to a dominant, 107-67 victory. Shondell Lee led the way with 28 points for Hard Work, and Rashawn Williams took advantage of the absence of Aaron “Big Rig” Lohmann to do a lot of damage inside, scoring 21 points on the night. Chris Hayes led Man Bear Pig with 19 points and Brad Elliott chipped in with 18 points of his own.

Even though the season didn’t end how they wanted, you have to give a lot of credit to Man Bear Pig. They started the season 0-3, and none of those losses were remotely close. They looked like a team that would be cellar-dwellers, but they came together very nicely and found themselves playing on the final night of the season.

Semifinal #2: Impact Basketball-76 The Great Unknown-67

This was a much closer game than the other semifinal matchup. The first half of this game can be summed up with these five words: TJ Cyriacks vs. Beau Barney. Impact led most of the first half by double digits because, in large part, of Beau Barney. Barney had 18 points in the first half, including 3-5 from downtown. That would be tough for most teams to overcome, but most teams don’t have TJ Cyriacks. Cyriacks went 6-8 from long range on his way to 20 first half points, and single-handedly gave The Great Unknown a two point lead heading in to the break.

The second half was very back and forth, with neither team gaining much of an advantage. Both Barney and Cyriacks were able to get contributions from their teammates that kept the game going at a high pace. For Impact, Jimmy Binnie made a number of clutch shots, including a big three pointer with just under five minutes to play. In the end, a similar pattern we’ve seen all season long from The Great Unknown began to reveal itself, as they ran out of gas after jumping out to a halftime lead. 34 points from Cyriacks as well as double-doubles from both Chad Smith and Lance Schiola weren’t enough to take down Impact Basketball as Binnie ended the night with 31 points, and Barney finished with 40, including going 14 for 18 from the charity stripe to ice the game.

Championship Game: Hard Work-71 Impact Basketball-69

This was the game everyone was expecting, and the game everyone wanted. The two best teams that were one and two all season long in the power rankings were colliding in a Week 6 re-match that saw Hard Work win the game by a single point. Arguably the four best players in the league were playing in this game in Shondell Lee and Carlos Matos for Hard Work, and Beau Barney and Jimmy Binnie for Impact Basketball.

All I can say is this game lived up to the hype. Both teams were trading basket for basket, matching defensive stop with defensive stop, and we saw guys hitting the deck for loose balls on a number of occasions. Neither team could pull away, and the biggest lead of the first half was four points, and the championship game went in to the break with Hard Work up one on Impact Basketball, 36-35.

The second half started the same as the first, with a very even game being played. That all changed at the ten minute mark, when super sub David Bustamante entered the game and proceeded to hit four three pointers in a five minute span, which pushed the lead as high as 11. Impact was able to go on a mini-run to pull within four points, but in the end, having only five guys playing two games was too much to overcome as Hard Work brought home the championship in their 71-69 victory on Tuesday night.

Not only was a great game played, but I witnessed some outstanding sportsmanship during halftime of the championship game. Erick Saengchanh, of Impact Basketball, was barely able to walk after having played 44 minutes in the semifinals and 22 minutes in the championship game. Having no substitutes, Impact was looking at the possibility of playing four on five for the second half of the championship game. League Coordinator Abbie Gilstrap went to the Hard Work bench and asked if Impact could bring in a sub. Hard Work very easily could have said no, but Rashawn Williams stepped up and said they could absolutely get someone else to play. Williams, who is in his first season with Ultimate Hoops, was looking at a quality basketball game over a guaranteed championship.

It’s guys like Rashawn Williams that make Ultimate Hoops the best league in the country.