MONTVALE, NJ: The Playoffs Are Near
Justin Leon dives to the goal as his team grabs another win
With just one week of games remaining before the playoffs begin in the Winter League, all three teams that entered action Wednesday night with just one loss again went home happy.
The Ball Hogs, who moved to 4-1 after a forfeit by Team Bryan due to a shortage of players, scored the easiest “victory” of the night. Meanwhile, Old School and Team Justin each improved their records by winning their games by a double-digit margin.
Team Old School became the first five-win squad with a 53-35 triumph over a suddenly struggling Victorious Secret. While VS hung around for much of the game, they were unable to reduce their deficit enough to put a real scare into Old School, who really began to pull away in the game’s final minutes.
Old School put forth another balanced attack led by Billy Allen and John Cotton. Cotton reached double figures for a second-straight game, while Allen continued to provide efficient scoring and three-point shooting. Old School also dominated on the boards, with four players grabbing at least six and the team recording a +11 margin over Victorious Secret.
Like last week, VS’s Vinnie Graff led his team in scoring. This time, however, his three-point shot wasn’t falling as frequently. As a whole, the team made just 2 of their 16 attempts from beyond the arc. As evidenced by their total of just 35 points, nobody was really able to get it going on offense.
Speaking of offensive struggles, Team Justin moved to 4-1 by holding the still-winless Just the Tip to 36 points. While Rob Buonanno scored nearly three quarters of his team’s points, he still failed to find his three-point shot, and Just the Tip hit just 1 of 13 as a whole.
While Team Justin won the game by a 51-36 margin, the score was tied just before the half at 17. In the second session, however, Justin quickly pulled away. The scoring tandem of Justin Leon and Jesse Joudanin once again led the way, as the two nearly outscored Just the Tip by themselves. Joudanin also combined with Tyler Speziale to grab 24 rebounds, four more than Just the Tip had as a team.
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