COMMERCE OPEN: Power Rankings | Looks like its trouble in paradise for C4

A shake up in the middle of our rankings leading into the final week of the regular season. The time shine is coming up, but which team wants it the most?

1) Shelby’s Finest (6-1, Last #1) – Despite being shorthanded, Shelby’s Finest was able to take care of business in a 103-77 W over Sons of Basketball. Vaughn Gray continued to be the leader of this team and had an absolute monster game (43 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast, 5 stls) as his partner in crime McKinsey Golfin chipped in 22 pts and 9 rebounds in the blowout. A good tune up against a desperate Running Rebels game will be just what Shelby’s Finest needs going into the playoffs with the #1 seed whether they win or lose.

2) C4 (5-2, Last #2) – Trouble in paradise? Back to back losses has GM Joseph Kassis head spinning. A struggling Hit Squad may be just the thing C4 needs to see, although it is rumored they may be without a top player or two in the coming weeks. With Jeff Jayson, Jason Rennie, and Brandon Nafso healthy and in attendance, this remains a team primed to make it to the championship game.

3) Weekend Warriors (3-4, Last #4) – In the upset of week 7, the Weekend Warriors defeated C4 73-70, almost assuring the Warriors a spot in the playoffs. Phil Nelson (23 pts) and Darryl Foster (20 pts) paced the Warriors in scoring while Rich Katona was huge rebounding and grabbing loose balls in the 2nd half to help the Warriors close out the win. While C4 was without sharpshooter Jason Rennie, The Warriors were also missing their big shooter in Scott Kapeller. WW finishes up the season against winless Sons of Basketball, trying to finish the season winning 4 of their last 5 and carry that momentum into the playoffs.

4) Running Rebels (3-4, Last #5) – The Rebels slim playoff hopes stayed alive with a huge win over the Hit Squad. Star players Julius Barnett and Steven Reynolds finally got on the same page combining for 45 points and 16 rebounds. It may be too late at this point though as the Rebels are on the short end of tiebreakers with other playoff contention teams.

5) Hit Squad (4-3, Last #3) – Despite having a better record than the 3rd and 4th ranked teams, since week 2 the Hit Squad has only been more impressive than the winless Sons of Basketball. In the past 5 weeks, they are 2-3 with both of those W’s coming against SOB. They have a pair of 21 point losses to C4 and Shelby’s Finest and helped keep the Running Rebels hopes alive last week losing to the Running Rebels 84-78. With another matchup against C4 looming, a .500 regular season record (4-4) will probably have the Hit Squad limping into the playoffs and looking at a 1st round exit in the playoffs.

6) Sons of Basketball (0-7, Last #6) –With only one game left, Sons of Basketball will look to end the season with a high note. GM and Team MVP Darius Statum missed week 7 when SOB gave up over 100 points in a loss to a shorthanded Shelby’s Finest team. They are going to need everyone if they are going to avoid a winless season in week 8 against a surging Weekend Warriors team.