Team D Dawson Takes the Calderan Cup!

Kurt's team jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but Diane's team countered with a 10-2 run of their own to tie it at 12. The two teams went back and forth, and eventually the game was knotted at 42 with about four minutes to play, after Drew Estabrook scored on back to back possessions for K Dawson. Mitch Dawson and Cedric Wirta each made three pointers to give D Dawson the lead for good at 48-42. A Dan Tomany three with a minute left cut the lead to 48-45, but Jared Sheehy sunk two clutch free throws with 20 seconds left to ice it. Diane's team won 50-45. Congratulations to both teams for an awesome game and season!

Who's Gonna Win It All?

The conclusion of the 2011-2012 season comes tomorrow, as a Dawson team will finally be crowned champion after years of underachieving. Kurt's team has gone undefeated this year, with a regular season record of 8-0, followed by a playoff record of 3-0. Drew Estabrook and Zach Cotoni give them a definite edge in terms of point guard play. On the other side, Diane's team started off hot, but faced a bit of a struggle following the midseason injury to Conor Enright. They ended the regular season with a record of 6-2, and have rattled of three straight to reach the championship game. Kurt's team is well balanced, having different leading scorers several times throughout the season. Diane's team is primarily led by the two-headed attack of Conor Enright and Mitchell Dawson, both of whom are seniors. On his birthday, I believe Mitch will step up in the spotlight and hit some threes, and Cedric Wirta can contribute with double digit points as well. Of course, Conor Enright is the main attraction and I don't think he will disappoint. Diane's team just came off a huge overtime win over Team Stevens, and I think they carry that momentum on to a rec ball championship. Best of luck to both teams.

Saturday Schedule

Saturday at MSN

 10:30 - 11:00 Warm ups

 11:00 - All Star Game -  followed by 3pt + Foul Shot Contest

 12:30 - Championship Game -  followed by Slam Dunk if we have Contestants

   2:00 - Coaches Son's game

***Note that these times are one hour later than originally scheduled.***

All Stars

Congratulations to the following players who have been voted as 2011-2012 GD Rec Basketball All-Stars!

Aj Dufrense

Alex Dhinos

Alex Keast

Alexander Kieleczawa

Ben Icenogle

Benedict Walsh

Brandon Orlando

Connor Enright

Dan McGuinness

Dan Roper

Doug Smith

Drew Estabrook

Ian McPherson

Jackson Jarboe

JP Hegeman

Kyle Karaska

Matt Aumais

Matt Ferro

Matt Hanagan

Michael Beal

Mitch Dawson

Nick Freiter

Nick Longo

Patrick Stevens

Peter Ellerkamp

Ryan Dawson

Ryan Sheehan

Tim Grove

Coaches will be Stevens assisted by Debreceni VS Wright assisted by K. Dawson.

Scores: Playoffs Round 2

Stevens 60 Walsh 49
D Dawson Saraceno
K Dawson Stewart

Matt's Round 2 Playoff Picks

K Dawson vs. Stewart

Prediction: 55-30 K Dawson

K Dawson seems like they are unstoppable this season and they get the loser pick this week, which is Team Stewart. I just don’t see Stewart pulling an upset unless some people do not show up for K Dawson. This game should't be too close.

Debreceni vs. Hegeman

Score: 55-35 Hegeman

Hegeman is a much better all around team and unlike Jarboe they have an answer for Kyle Karaska with Nick Longo. Longo is just as athletic and can keep up with Kyle. Austin can cover Alex Kieleczawa, and Hegeman is much deeper than Debreceni, I can’t see Debreceni pulling back to back upsets.

Walsh vs Stevens

Score: 55-50 Stevens

I’m giving this one to Stevens with their great two guards Stevens and Rosa, who will be too much on the fast break for Walsh. The way Stevens can attack the hoop will get Walsh into foul trouble and they will hit their shots at the free throw line. Walsh may have the advantage on the glass, so for them to win they need to slow the pace of the game down and Ben and Tom need to hit their three pointers.

D Dawson vs Saraceno

Score: 55-48 D Dawson

The Dawson train keeps on rolling this week when they get Saraceno. Dawson needs to be able to get back on defense if Saraceno decides to speed the game up. Dawson has the depth on the bench that Saraceno does not. Doug will cover Conor and Ferro will cover Mitch. The only way Saraceno pulls this game off is if they drain some three pointers with Ferro, Roper, and Smith. They also have to get easy buckets on the fast break to succeed.

Baller of the Week: Playoffs Round 1

The Baller of the Week award for round one of the playoffs is Kyle Karaska. Kyle willed his team to an upset win over Team Jarboe, bringing them back from a 17 point deficit with the help of Alex Kieleczawa. Kyle had 19 second half points scoring 26 points total in the game. It will be another tough game for Deberceni this week, but he plays like he did last week, Jarboe has a chance to knock off Hegeman. 

Remaining Playoff Bracket

And The Winner Is...

After Sunday's D Dawson vs. Stewart matchup, a random drawing was held to determine the eighth team that would move on to the quarter-finals. The seven teams that suffered first round losses (Mahan, Jarboe, Stark, DeLuca, Naughton, Wright, Stewart) were eligible for the draw-in. Click "read more" below to see the winner...

Scores: Playoffs Round 1

First day of round one is in the books. All teams with better regular season records were victorious, except for Team Jarboe. They were defeated by Team Debreceni, a team that has a history of being difficult to beat in the playoffs-- no mater what their regular season record may be.

Sunday's action brought victories by Stevens over Wright and D Dawson over Stewart. In the first game, Team Stevens jumped out to a 9-0 lead, with all nine points coming from Nick Freiter. They never looked back, winning 58-43. Patrick Stevens had 16 points and Freiter finished with 15. The second game was close throughout. Dawson jumped out to several eight or nine point leads, but Stewart kept bouncing back  thanks to four threes by Evan Bunis and double digit rebounds by Alex Dhionis. In the end, Dawson was too much. Cedric Wirta was the difference with four threes.

On a side note, this is the 200th post to this website. Pretty amazing stuff. Thanks again to everyone for reading.

K Dawson Mahan
Debreceni Jarboe
Saraceno Stark
Hegeman DeLuca
Walsh Naughton
Stevens Wright
D Dawson Stewart

Matt's Playoff Picks: Round 1

K Dawson (8-0) vs Mahan (4-4)
Score: Mahan 50-48

Dawson has a chance to knock out the defending champion Assistant Coach Werner in
this game. However, I think Mahan could pull the first round upset, just like a sub-.500 MacLeod did to an undefeated Calderan two years ago. Mahan has knocked off great teams this season like Hegeman and Jarboe, and if they have their big 4 there with Matt Werner, B-Ice, Dan McGuiness, and Griffin Modzelewski I think they have a good chance to win. Especially with so many go to guys to go to down the stretch, I don’t think Dawson has that type of player. It will be interesting to see Ryan Dawson matchup with Ben Icenogle down low. Whoever wins that matchup will have this game.

Jarboe (5-3) vs Debreceni (2-6)
Score: 45-30 Jarboe

I think this game won’t be to close unless Karaska and Kieleczawa have monster games, as
Jarboe is just too deep compared to Deb. I think the guards Peter Ellerkamp and Matt Aumais will
be able to open up shooting lanes for Mike Murphy to hit some three’s. The X-Factor for Jarboe
is Myles Markham. If Myles plays up to his potential and score 8-10 points per game like he did at the
beginning of the season, then Jarboe may be able to make a push at a title.

Hegeman (6-2) vs DeLuca (2-6)
Score: 60-50 Hegeman

DeLuca has been in a funk to say the least after winning their two games early. To make
this game competitive they need to be able to rebound the ball effectively, and Tim Grove needs
to get Ian Macpherson going offensively. Ian and Tim are going to both have big games for
DeLuca to move on.

Walsh(6-2) vs Naughton(3-5)
Score: 50-45 Walsh

I think this will be a very close game. Naughton riding a two game winning streak into
the playoff’s when it looked like Naughton was a non-factor in a title race. However Walsh’s
three point shooting ability with Ben Walsh and Tom DeNatale will pull Hanagan outside and
Pfenn will be able to get easy rebounds and buckets down low.

Saraceno (2-6) vs Stark(0-8)
Score: 50-30 Saraceno

I would really love to see Stark pull an upset but as long as Ferro, Roper, and Smith are
there I don’t see it happening. Then you don’t even know if Ryan Sheehan will even show up so
there’s that uncertainty with Stark. Saraceno is 2-6, however, they lost 2 or 3 close games so the
league shouldn’t underestimate Saraceno. Roper just has to stop taking low-percentage shots and give the
ball more often to Doug.

Stevens (7-1) vs Wright(3-5)
Score: 55-40 Stevens

Stevens begins their quest for another chance to play for the title and it starts with
Wright. Wright doesn’t have two guards to matchup with Doug Rosa and Patrick Stevens. The fast pace game and the depth of Stevens is just too overpowering for Wright to withstand.

D Dawson (6-2) vs Stewart (2-6)
Score: 55-50 Dawson

Stewart is going to have to play a fast paced tempo in order to beat Dawson, but they are more accustomed to playing a half court offense so this might be difficult for them. Mitch and Connor won’t be able to get back on defense and Team Stewart would have easy baskets if they are able to execute the press and run. Bunis and Stewart will need to have strong games for Stewart to win, and
Dhionis and Enright will be a good matchup. Another key is that Stewart has to shut down Dawsons third scorer, either Cedric Wirta or Alex Marken. Ultimately, I think there are too many adjustments for Team Stewart to make in one week, meaning Dawson will be able to edge them out.