The Grand Finals for Tuesday has finally arrived, and you guess it! Its the final 2 teams of each division that remain, and they will battle it out to see who is truly deserving of UBL glory. After 48 minutes of grind basketball the winner will always be revealed! See who came up big in the Grand Finals, and get their franchise a championship!
Div 1 saw the rematch of two teams that met 2 season ago in the Grand Finals, KillaBeez won that time, and the Double dunkers were once called Damnnn Son, would this be their revenge championship?
Killa Beez were playing well and hitting their shots right after the tip, Double Ds taking a bit to get going, but Peter T was on his game with 6 points and 3 steals in the quarter, Jed was the only other scorer with 5 but these two would need to warm up to make sure they caught up to the Beez as they led by 4 at the end of 12 mins, Andy K almost with a double double in the first quarter with 7 points and 9 rebs, Ahmad was hosting an all you can eat dime buffet with 4 assists. The game would look to be a grind with only 2 buckets in it,
Killa Beez had some momentum going into the 2nd looking to build on their 5 point lead. Will G came out and hit 5 poitns straight to get their lead up to 9 quickly. 28-13 with 4:20 left in the 2nd, looking like a home run if they kept up the rotation and hustle. By the end of the quarter the score was 33-19, KillaBeez in control…or were they? Some good numbers after the first thalf from both teams. Jed on 9 and Peter T on 8pts 7 rebs so far as they warmed up for the next half to mount a comeback. beez had Will G bust out some big ones this quarter getting 13 so far in the game. Killa Beez shooting 41% to Double Ds 24%, the dictating stat that had set the tone so far as well as rebounds 26-18. But the turnovers doubled for KBs as Double Ds took care of the ball better.
The 3rd quarter was where it all started fall apart for the Killa Beez who were up by 17 with 8 mins left of this quarter. Double Dunkers came out setting up their comeback for the 4th, but laying the ground work this quarter…Pete hit a big 3, then Tim clipped a steal Jed got an And1 and as DOouble Ds made a quick run before the break cutting the lead. At the end of the 3rd the pace picked up and the Double Ds cut the lead to 5 points with 1 minute remaining. The closest they had been thus far, going into the final 12 minutes of the season for both teams.
Up by 6 going into the 4th quarter, the KillaBeez put the 3rd quarter behind them and looked to protect the lead in the 4th. But Double Ds had momentum and this was everything in a physical grand finals game. With 5 mins left Double DUnkers took the lead on a Peter T layup that was goaltended by Alex P, this would be the start of the end for KillaBeez with a full momentum switch in Double Ds favor now going bucket for bucket till it was all even at 59 with 1 minute and a half left.. Jeson came down and hit a mid range jumper in the center of the key to put DOuble Dunkers up by 2 with 1min to go. Fromm her eon it was all garbage time, with Doubel Dunkers hitting most of their free throws to creep ahead, out of reach of the Killa Beez by the end as their attempts at 3 pointers failed and Double Ds get their revenge win!, and a Championship too! Well deserved!
Top Performers this game for Double Dunkers were Jed P the co-MVP of this finals with 32 points 6 rebs and Peter T also MVp with a sweet double double of 17points 17 rebs and 5 steals on 50% shooting! A montster game! Will S pulled in some super crucial rebounds to get his 7 boards, Jeson ran the point well with 9pts 6rebs and 3 assists as his prodigy Cj got buckets with 11, with his unmatchable speed!
KillaBeez did their best this game and fell short on some bad timing falling victim to a huge comeback but Andy K put in some work with double double of 18 points and 17 rebounds on 43%FG, and Will G a big game with 19 points 5 rebs. Alex P got a tidy double double as well with 12 points 10rebs. Great stats but not enough to snatch this one!
As a team the stats were pretty even except turnovers where Killabeez turned it over 12 times to Double Ds 4, giving them 5 more steals and the slight advantage to creep ahead and become Champions!.
Great game by both teams, a great friendly rivalry that could see each other in the Finals again!
Div 2 saw the Whoopsey Fudge Stripes take on the Wyangal Pirates, an epic matchup of two teams employing very different tactics, the average height of Pirates far more than Whoopsey, it was small ball vs some old school structured basketball. Who would come out on top?
First quarter action commenced with Wyangal Pirates going hard in the first few minutes, whipping the ball around and getting buckets mainly from 3 pointers where the Pirates shot 100%! Hitting 4 threes and as result Wyangal Pirates had the lead early after this quarter by 15 points! Whoopsey FS had Jack O score their only points as they now looked to climb out of this 1st quarter hole in the 2nd period. Nick B already on 9 points on 100% shooting, Alex B starting to heat up too with 4.
2nd quarter saw more of the same flow with the Pirates taking it inside more and Whoopsey starting to get some buckets to go all the while stopping the streaking Wyangal Pirates who were striving to continue their hot start. Jack O was active and had 8 so far, cutting the lead by 2 this quarter, at this pace they needed to step it up to catch up. Nick B still busting out some moves this quarter for Pirates with 13 points in the game so far and 7 rebs, the ball going into the paint more for Pirates this quarter as they mixed up the attack keeping Whoopsey wondering which D would b best to stop them. At the end fo the half both teams were shooting under 40% due to the hectic D from both sides. Whoopsey finding it hard to get into the paint with so many bigs and their 2 ball had still not landed at all not giving them much hope for the 2nd half! But Whoopsey never give up, and they wouldn’t go away yet!
3rd quarter had both teams come out and clamp down on defence, the physicality bumped up a notch as Pirates kept at their game, putting in some inside and outside points keeping their lead and chasing every loose ball. Whoopsey had a shocker of a quarter with Paul R the only one doing scoring this quarter as the Pirates locked them down like a mutiny at sea! Pirates didn’t get much to go either but they increased their lead to 20, a comfy lead for them, but they know not to let their guard down against the eternally running Whoopsey crew who still had 12 mins to use every bit of luck they have left to try and force a comeback. Nick B already with a double double, dominating the glass with 12 rebs. Alex B playing wel alongside him with 13 points so far, carrying the teams load.
4th quarter , the final quarter for both teams, one would end up on top and one would go home empty handed, wondering what they could have done to avoid their fate. Both teams kept up their pace and some inside rough play getting players emotional as we drew the quarter slowly to a close. Whoopsey saw Paul R step up and get some fadeaways to drop and everyone got on the board to score a little and hope that it would make someone catch fire and save the day, but it wasn’t to be this finals. Pirates, too big, too strong and led by a very experience veteran player that guided them to the lead and eventual win. Whoopsey take this L and give the championship to Pirates this season, after a hard fought game that was a battle from the start.
Top Performers this game for Whoopsey Fudge stries was Paul R with 9 points and 8 rebs, Jack O on 8 points and 10 rebs, a near double double whilst Pirates had some bigger numbers as Nick B recorded a monster doubled double with 19 points and 18 rebounds & 4 assists on 47% shooting. Alex B was just behind him scoring wise with 13 points and 6rebs on 44% FG, Lewis H had a tidy game with 7 points and 7 rebs on 50% shooting all stats that made up the recipe for domination this Grand Finals!
A great season from Whoopsey Fudge stripes to come first and get to the final game, just short of the goal but never gave up! Congrats to the Wyangal Pirates! Div 2 champions for season 11!
Div 3 had the crowd going crazy as soon as they came out. With both benches stacked with supporters, it was loud and full of energy as these two teams faced off to see who the basketball gods favoured more. It was worth the price of admission!
1st quarter was super close with both teams coming out with some strong plays that were heavily defended, making for a grind of a first quarter, the only difference was the Parrots went to the line and hit more inside shots that Love Handles. Jarrod M starting strong for LH and Nic D and Sam T opening up the gates for Parrots, the 4 points lead for Parrots not much to go off so far as to who would take this one down. Love Handles hammered the glass winnign the boards by 11 showing their size and hustle.
2nd quarter had the Love Handles go on a run which was answered back by Parrots to draw the game almost even at the end of the period. Jack T was getting a few to go from some nice footwork in the paint, getting 11 points so far in the game, the Parrots shooting 45% as a team. Love Handles had Jarrod M continue tobe aggressive and get 12 points 6 rebs thus far, and Simon B had the touch with some good shots on 7 points. Ethan P was running the point well with 3 assists as the game took a break for the players to get their breath back and be ready for a gruelling 2nd half of UBL Finals basketball.
3rd quarter the score started with parrots just up 1 point on Love Handles so the game would be a grind from here on, especially this quarter as both teams locked down on D and seemed to have each other tactics figured out. The buckets went back and forth, Ethan P stepping up this quarter to get 8 points so far, Jarrod still going strong slashing and putting up 3s and Simon was still building a good scoring game with 10. Parrots were on fire from all angles, everyone got a turn driving the ball as Liam got a few, Samt T and Mitch still hungry and jack T on 11 so far. But all the Parrots productivity inside was just 1 points less effective than the Love Handles 3 pointers as they hit 3 in the quarter and led by the aforementioned 1 point. A perfect momentum switch going into the 4th. But would this be enough to stop the Parrots attack and lust for the win?
4th quarter it was Nic D vs Jarrod M, as both players came out scoring hard, 11 points in the quarter for Jarrod as he tried everything to get the score close. But Nic D was on fire with his floaters, 9 points off the bat to set up the teams victory in garbage time to which they hit a bunch fo free throws, Jack T and Sam T were cold blooded at the line and the victory was the Parrots this game as they stuck to the plan and played for each other! Great win for Parrots! Champions after battling a strong team!
Top performers this game for Love Handles was Jarrod M who notched the game high with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Simon B got his 10 points. Ethan P orchestrating the offesnse with 8 pts 6rebs 4 assists and 5 game high steals. Harrison got 10 rebounds and Tom B Had 8 rebs. The team won in rebounds 43-36 and steals 14-11, but they couldn’t steal this game unfortunately.
Parrots had their main man this season shine bright with 12 points and 7 rebounds on 42% shooting. Sam T got 10 points to give a great contribuation, but the MVP for this game was Jack T with 18 points and 10 rebs on 56% shooting, a great game in the finals, efficient and dominant!
Great game played by Love Handles and a great season to come in 2nd and challenge the veteran 5th place Parrots who won big time after being down in ranks this season. Parrots crowned Div 3 champions for Season 11! Well done!
Well done to all teams who participated this season, it was a long one since 2020 due to Covid and the Grand Finals was all that we hoped for with some epic games and solid moments!
Stay tuned for next season, are you back in? or in rebuild mode? Don’t lose your spot to have the chance to one day realize UBL glory like these champions!
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