COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: Week 8 Recap | Making the Playoff Push

It's hard to believe, but the spring season is moving on to the playoffs in Colorado Springs. But before we get to the big boy basketball, let's take a look at what happened in the regular season finale.

Hawks - 81 Free Agents - 65

The opening game of the evening got off to a bit of an ugly start, as both teams missed easy shots and turned the ball over more than they would have liked. It also didn't help that between them, they had a combined ten players, which never leads to anything good. Once both teams settled down and let the game come to them, they started hitting some shots. The first half was a tight ballgame until a late, 6-0 run by the Hawks gave them a ten point lead heading in to the break.

The second half was more of the same, for these two squads, as the Hawks maintained a solid lead, but never could quite put the Free Agents away. In the end, the Hawks won the game 81-65. The story of this game was either good defense or bad shooting, whichever way you want to look at it, as neither team shot 45% from the field. The Hawks were full of stat-stuffers, as they had four players record double-doubles, led by Michael Salazar-Barrera, who had 31 points and grabbed 11 boards.

Team Colorado - 98 Hand Down Man Down - 91

Everyone knew that this would be the game of the night coming in to week 8, and these two teams didn't disappoint. Team Colorado stormed out of the gates, jumping out to a quick lead. Hand Down Man Down seemed to be shooting on a bucket with a lid on it, because they really struggled in the early part of the first half to make some shots and find any rhythm offensively. Team Colorado had their way with HDMD, and went in to the half with a commanding, 58-40 lead.

Hand Down Man Down very easily could have folded having been down by 18 at the break, but they fought back and made the second half very interesting. Team Colorado was never able to put the game away, and HDMD cut the lead to six with under five minutes to play. In the end, Team Colorado was able hit their free throws late in the second half to ice the game, winning by a score of 98-91. Team Colorado was very efficient offensively in this game, shooting 50% from the field; knocking down 15 of 21 free throws and dishing out 15 assists; not to mention having five guys in double figures, led by Zach Hawkins with 22. Not to be forgotten in the loss was Jon Medina of Hand Down Man Down. Medina dropped 28 points, which included going 12-14 from the field, and 2-3 from beyond the arc.

The Decision - 95 The Conglomerate - 60

Normally, this would be a big ticket matchup, but in the regular season finale, it was anything but a marquee game. The Conglomerate, similar to the Free Agents and the Hawks, played this game with five players, and The Decision wasn't much different as they had six players, but that sixth player was a hobbled Ryann Little who wasn't able to play a lot.

This game got ugly early, as The Decision was playing with a considerable size advantage, and wisely used that to get the upper hand, routinely getting the ball in to the post to Allen Rice and Willie Starks. With The Decision constantly taking the ball to the rack, they built a solid 47-30 lead at the half.

The second half wasn't much different, with the exception of The Conglomerate collapsing down to try to slow down Rice and Starks, which opened up the perimeter. Emanuel Salas took full advantage and scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half. When all was said and done, if one team shoots 62% from the field and the other shoots 34%, it's not a big surprise to see that the final score was 95-60. In addition to Salas scoring 25 points, Rice and Starks also had big nights, each registering double-doubles.

The regular season is a wrap in Colorado Springs. Please check back later in the week to see an updated playoff bracket.