All-Stars!

Congrats to those who were voted as all-stars by their peers, coaches and fans. Here is the list:

2010 FIRST TEAM ALL STARS:


Paul Calderan (36)
Aaron Honkonen (27)
Ryan Langell (27)
Mark Lavallee (24)
Zachary Dhionis (23)
Coach- Dave Burke (20 votes)

2010 SECOND TEAM ALL STARS:

Brandon Wilkinson (22)
Tynan MacLeod (19)
Shane OMalley (17)
Liam Barberich (16)
Anthony Cotoni (16)
Coach- Paul Debreceni (16 votes)


REMAINING 2010 ALL STARS:

Dustin McEvoy (14)
Devin Goudey (13)
Michael Devarenne** (11)
Charles Hill (9)
Coleman Hill (7)
Sean Bailey ** (6)
Tommy Beal (6)
Mitchell Dawson (6)
Kevin Thompson (6)
Assistant Coaches- Dave Calderan (15) and Diane Dawson (9)

**Will not play due to injury.

Free Throw & Three-Point Contest Winners

Kevin Thompson of Team Burke made 8 out of 10 foul shots to take home the free throw shooting trophy. Team Bailey's Brandon Wilkinson and Team Calderan's Paul Calderan each drained 8 three's in 30 seconds to force a shoot-out, where each made 5 three-pointers. Finally in the second round of the shoot-off, Wilkinson defeated Calderan. Congrats to Kevin and Brandon, as well as everyone who won their team's contests. At halftime of the Championship Game I was lucky enough to receive the Media Award for "Communication Excellence." I am very grateful for the award and it means a lot to be recognized, but at the same time it wouldn't have been possible without those who follow this blog,my thanks go out to you. Your support has been strong throughout, as I'm proud to say that on Saturday the site surpassed 20,000 hits since early November! Don't forget to cast your All-Star Game ballots!

All-Star Game Voting

If you didn't get an opportunity to vote at the Championship Game, you still have a chance to vote for this year's GD Rec Basketball All-Stars! Coaches, players, and parents can all vote. The game will take place some time after February vacation.

Submit your ballot to Calderan@Verizon.com.

The excel version of the ballot can be found HERE. Just save it and email the attachment to Mr. Calderan. Or, if you'd prefer, just send him an email with the names of 8 players and 2 coaches. MAKE SURE TO WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE BALLOT OR IT WILL NOT COUNT.

Voting will close in one week, so make sure to get those ballots in!

Hegeman Wins

Congratulations to Team Hegeman on winning the GD Rec Basketball Championship 51-45 over Team Debreceni! Awesome year by everyone, thank you to all who made it possible.

THE PICK: GD Rec BBall Championship Game

Game is at 10:40am at LA on Saturday. Due to some unfortunate circumstances there is a lot of confusion as to if the game will be recorded or not, I've spent the last few hours trying to come up with a camera, mic, and tripod, and I have a few options. Tyler Charlantini and I will do what we can, that may or may not mean that the game will be televised, but I'm hopeful that it will. Sorry for any false promises, I'm just as disappointed as anyone else may be. Anyway, it's late. I'll say Team Debreceni beats Team Hegeman 60-55 to take the GD Rec BBall Crown. Best of luck to both teams and congrats to everyone on a great season.

Scores: Semi-Finals

The championship matchup is set. Team MacLeod kept it close until halftime, when they trailed 27-21, but Team Debreceni went on a 14-2 run to start the second half and hung on. Team Hegeman defeated Team Dawson to advance to the finals as well.

Debreceni 64 MacLeod 36
Hegeman 48 Dawson 34

Game Picks: Semi-Finals

The last weekend of the 2009-2010 GD Rec Basketball Season is upon us, and with that, a field of 14 teams has been narrowed to four. The teams that have reached this point have not only used talent to get this far, a lot of their success can be attributed to heart, hustle, and teamwork. With that, I'd like to wish each team the best of luck tonight and tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to work the clock at MSN tonight, so I won't be able to catch the semi-final games. As for tomorrow, I will be in attendance for the championship game at Lawrence Academy at 10:40am, at which the GD Rec Basketball All-Star Game Ballots will be distributed and cast. Hope to see everyone there tomorrow, and once again, best of luck to each team and each contestant in the Free Throw and 3-Point Championships. Without further adieu, the picks...

MacLeod vs. Debreceni (Friday - 8:00pm - LA)

Team MacLeod has ridden the upset wave to make a miraculous appearance in the semi-finals... who'd a thunk it? Then again Team Debreceni was last in the preseason rankings (okay, I said it, but let's not bring that up any more). That being said, Team Debreceni has been the highest scoring team, averaging 59.75 ppg, (9.5 ppg higher than the second place team, Team Calderan), while Team MacLeod is 10th in the league, averaging 42.75 ppg. The two teams met in Week 8, with Team Debreceni winning a blowout, 76-44. But Team MacLeod has pulled a 180, and they, like Team Debreceni, are filled with confidence. The key will be for Team MacLeod to jump out to an early lead and keep the game low scoring, while Team Debreceni would love to play an uptempo, high-scoring game. This one should be interesting, and Team MacLeod has won over the hearts of many rec basketball fans, but I think their magical run will come to an end tonight... but who knows, maybe they'll shock the rec basketball world again?
Debreceni 54 MacLeod 47

Dawson vs. Hegeman (Friday - 8:00pm - LA)

Team Hegeman has pulled it together and made a run, with two upset wins over Jarboe and Fotino respectively, they rank 9th in the league with 43.5 ppg. On the other side Team Dawson lost in double overtime to Dion, but they got lucky and got the draw-in slot. They took advantage and upset #2 Burke, and approach this game with an optimistic outlook, based on their 53-46 victory over Team Hegeman in Week 8. Team Hegeman's surge has been ignited by the presence of Noah Burkholz, who has returned from the Lawrence Academy JV sidelines, to make two solid playoff appearances. That being said, Anthony Cotoni and Gerardo Guadiana have been solid thus far for Team Hegeman, and Mitchell Dawson has stood out scoring wise from a well rounded Team Dawson. Team Hegeman has the size and a greater amount of raw talent, but Team Dawson has the speed, aggressiveness, and teamwork that I believe will lead them to a hard fought win, and an appearance at the GD Rec Basketball Championship game on Saturday.
Dawson 52 Hegeman 49

Consolation Games

All games will take place on Saturday...

8:00am: Burke vs. Jarboe (LA-1)
8:00am: Stevens vs. Wright (LA-2)
8:00am: Bailey vs. Lavallee (GS)
9:20am: Calderan vs. Fotino (LA-1)
9:20am: Smith vs. Dion (LA-2)

Baller of the Week: Playoff Weekend #1

Tynan MacLeod wins the prestigious Baller of the Week Award for weekend #1 of the playoffs. He led Team MacLeod to a huge opening round upset win over Team Calderan, 61-52 in OT, and a round two victory over Team Bailey. Against Calderan he dropped a whopping 29 points, including 4 threes, and against Bailey he scored a solid 15. Congratulations Tynan!

Exciting News

I am happy to announce that the GD Rec Basketball Championship will be televised on the Groton Channel. It will be recorded and shown at a later date, thanks to the help of Tyler Charlantini. Mike Devarenne and Tommy Beal will do the play-by-play and color commentary, with sideline interviews by a reporter-to-be-named-later. So be there to watch the game, support your fellow rec ballers, and get on TV! Any suggestions, notes or comments can be left below...

Round 2 Matchups

The bracket thus far...

...which means MacLeod vs. Debreceni and Dawson vs. Hegeman both @ LA at 8:00pm on Friday.