MONTVALE, NJ: RUNt vs. Old School – The Battle for a Second Banner

Things didn’t exactly go as expected in the semis, but the two favorites prevailed, and we’ve arrived at our much-anticipated title game. Which team will be the first to claim multiple Montvale UHoops titles?

Old School was the first team to advance to the championship with an absolute dismantling of Just Ball. The 70-30 final pretty much says it all. Justin Leon shot 4-for-18…and was yet again his team’s leading scorer. Perhaps he shouldn’t have bothered to come out of the locker room.




Credit Old School, though. Just Ball has had a knack for hanging in games and pulling out wins. In this one, though, Old School wiped the floor with them. 50+% shooting, easy looks at the basket, and four double-digit scorers: Atanda, Allen, Cotton and Costello. They’re going to need them all against RUNt.

The defending champs, meanwhile, won in an 11-point game, similar to what we predicted. What nobody saw coming, however, was the contest being played on a shortened court due to gym scheduling conflicts. Had the Ferrall Ballerz pulled off the upset, there would have been an uprising due to the unique playing conditions, which certainly seemed to play to the Ballerz strengths with more of a half-court setting.

In the end, while this was a really competitive one, the Ballerz couldn’t hit enough jumpers to make it matter in the final minutes. When half of your shots are 3s, (though the 3-point line is a little closer on the shortened court) and you can’t make a third of them, it’s not going to be good enough.

So your championship matchup: RUNt vs. Old School

The lone meeting between the two came back in Week 1, a 63-41 RUNt rout. Will this one be closer? Old School certainly impressed against Just Ball, but RUNt also showed something in their semis win. If needed, they can get scoring from guys not named Graff or Kern, who by the way combined for 12 assists vs. the Ballerz. Gurbir Grewal, Hayden Duffy and Rob Cohan showed up big.

Long story short, while Old School may have a balanced attack, RUNt has a balanced attack…and guys who can drop 25 if need be.

Prediction: RUNt goes back-to-back, 58-50.