As the second half of the Spring 2016 season got under way in Montvale, the top three teams started to separate themselves from the rest of the pack with victories.

In the first game, the Ferrall Ballerz tried to get back on the winning track they were used to against their perennial rivals the Bergen Tropics. The Tropics weren’t interested in losing to the Ballerz again though as they hit three straight 3’s against the Ballerz zone defense for an early 11-4 lead. A Paul Gashi (23 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl) steal and layup pushed the lead up to 12 (18-6) but two straight Vinnie Graff (10 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) 3-pointers cut the lead in half (22-16) with 12 minutes left in the half. The Ballerz came back to take the lead at 26-25 after a Justin Leon (12 pts, 11 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk) 3-point play with 9 minutes left in the half and held onto their lead for the rest of the half, holding a 34-32 advantage at the break.

The Gashi brothers wouldn’t let the Tropics lose though and were a two man offense throughout the game. It was Dan Gashi’s (19 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast) 3-pointer two minutes into the 2nd half that gave the Tropics a 37-34 lead. The Ballerz wouldn’t give up whenever the Tropics built a lead though, with Scott Ferrall (13 pts, 6 reb) putting in a layup and then putting his own missed free throw to get the Ballerz within 1 (45-44) with 6:45 left in the game. Another Ferrall layup brought the Ballerz to within 2 (53-51) with 40 seconds left in the game but after no foul was called on a Dan Bronstein (8 pts, 4 ast) drive to try and tie the game, game long frustrations with the refs boiled over and Ferrall was given a technical foul the gave the Tropics extra free throws and possession of the ball and they used it to win 60-53.

In the second game, Old School took control early by taking it to the basket with Akeem Atanda (11 pts) taking the ball to the hoop. Old School build up a 10 point lead (16-6) with just over 10:40 left in the first after a Atanda steal and deep pass led to a Justin Michalek (9 pts, 9 reb) transition layup. Old School would hold onto that lead for a bit longer but a late run by the GOATs would get it down to 22-15 lead for Old School at the half.

It seemed like the only guy that could going offensively for much of the game was James Miccio (26 pts, 4 stl, 3 ast, 3 reb) who scored 21 of the GOATs first 24 points. The defense of Old School and Chris Brundage (10 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast) started to key on stopping him but Sebastian Stryker (14 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk) helped to pick up the slack as the GOATs outscored Old School 31-29 in the 2nd half. The GOATs always seemed to be down around 8 points most of the half until they started fouling with under a minute left and Stryker hit two 3-pointers to cut into the lead, but it wasn’t enough and Old School wins 51-46.

The final game was never close as Justice League ran away with it against the Wise Guys. Early in the game Skender Agic (15 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast) and Evan Schumer (19 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) got into some extra-curricular activity that led to tension between the teams top players for the rest of the game. The Wise Guys lost focus of James Esposito (17 pts) in the first half and he made them pay for it with three 3-pointers. The most exciting part of the game was when Brandon Danziger (23 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) found himself on a breakaway and threw down the dunk. The Justice League was well in control at halftime with a 42-27 lead.

The Justice League continued to control things in the 2nd half scoring in transition throughout the half with Dillon Rice (10 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb) chipping in. Skender Agic was forced to sit out big chunks of the 2nd half due to foul trouble and eventually fouled out of the game so Dahne Menzel (19 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk) tried to pick up the slack. Unfortunately it wouldn’t come close to being enough as Justice League cruises to an easy 79-55 win.

With their victories Justice League sits atop the standings at 4-1 while the Bergen Tropics and Old School are on their heels at 3-1. Their loss puts the Ferrall Ballerz in the middle of the pack at 2-2. Meanwhile, Uncle Chubby’s and the Wise Guys find themselves just out of the playoff picture at 1-3 and the GOATs stand in last at 1-4.

To see all the highlights from Week 5, go to Ultimate Hoops Montvale’s YouTube Page.

Before the game, Scott Ferrall talked with Rob Cohan and James Kopfensteiner about their desire to finally put a Bergen Tropics banner on the wall this season.