WE HAVE TWO CHAMPS AND BLYDEN, LUCAS AND HROBLAK WIN THE SCHOLARSHIPS

THE FINALS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND ALL STARS

The 2022-23 Boy’s and Girl’s FABL Showtime seasons came to an exciting conclusion on Saturday at Saint Stephen’s Field House while crowning two league champions and naming the recipients of the 2022-23  FABL Showtime Scholarship Contest.  Scoring records were also achieved in both all star games and attendance records were set with the addition of the new bleacher system partially funded by Freedom Basketball.

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

Congratulations to the three winners of the $1,500 Basta Pasta FABL Showtime Scholarship:

• Edwin  Blyden                          Liberty High School              Plans to attend University of Maryland, Georgia Teach or Virginia Tech
• Isabelle (Izzy) Lucas               Liberty High School              Plans to attend Florida Southern University
• Zachary Hroblak                     Century High School             Plans to attend Duquesne University

Thank you to our judging panel for making these decisions.

A SEASON IN REVIEW

Before we get into the details of the day, let’s recap the stats from the season with our annual tale of the tape.  We did the following this season:

GAMES PLAYED                     189

MINUTES PLAYED                6,804

OVERTIME MINUTES          17

FOULS                                       5,103

TECHNICALS                          17

POINTS SCORED                   16,958

3 POINTERS MADE              1,225

3 POINTERS MISSED           2,768

FREE THROWS MADE         1,124

FREE THROWS MISSED      2,785

FREE THROW %                     30.5%

Other Milestones were reached with the following making the all time records list for the league:

AIDEN ADDISON           1,010 CAREER POINTS

Aiden Addison with Mom and Dad and brother Ethan after scoring his 1,000th point.

ADDISON”S SINGLE GAME EFFORTS THIS SEASON:

43 VS CREAMSICLES

37 VS DRISCOLL

36 VS FREY

36 VS HEARN

OTHER STANDOUT SINGLE GAME EFFORTS:

NICK DOYLE 

38 VS MCCAIN

35 VS GALLAGHER

COLTON REXRODE 

36 VS LANE

34 VS HAYNES

ALL TIME SINGLE GAME SCORING RECORD IN ONLY 22.5 MINUTES OF PLAY:

NICK DUVALL                48 POINTS VS BUFANO

HILLMAN SCORED 80 AGAINST THE DREAMSICLES, 4^TH HIGHEST TOTAL EVER

One more stat, as of noon on Sunday, 2-26-2023, total website traffic for FABLShowtime.com was 137,423 page views since the November 1st, 2022.

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the first Championship Game, Lucas beat Cinderella Linton 32-22 on the back of Brynn Hollenberger’s 16 second half points and game high total of 20 points.  Alexa Goldbloom had 6 points and Isabelle Lucas proved that she is not only smart in winning the FABL Scholarship but also she has mad basketball skills in putting up 6 points for the 2022-23 champions.  On the other end of the floor Mariah Williams showed off her legit offensive skills canning 15 points and Madison Rytina, who had a career high 21 points in the semi final upset of top seeded Wilson, added 6 points in the loss.

The boy’s final started off as you would expect with two defensive heavyweights facing off for bragging rights and the 2022-23 FABL Boy’s Championship.  Ryan Hiebler came out early with 8 in the first quarter and was thankfully answered by Jack Andrew’s 5 and a big 3 pointer by Griffin Lane as the first period ended with Davidson leading 12-10.  It was more of the same in the second as Lane’s scoring was provided by Austin Wadlington’s three bombs from beyond the arch and Jonah Platt’s 5 including a slick 3 point play on a pass from Brayden Gmeiner who also had 4 point in the quarter.  We headed into the intermission with the top seed Davidson ahead but hardly in control 21-19.

The third quarter was some of the best basketball we have seen this year with 9 of the 10 players on the floor scoring.  Davidson opened up a six point lead early but they could not shake the tenacious Lane who got another 5 from Wadlington to bring the deficit back to 37-34 with 9 minutes left in the season.

Enter sharp shooting Ryan McKenna who immediately dropped two 3 point shots to extend the lead to 9 points in a flash and then senior all round player Ryan Hiebler put on a clinic scoring 8 of his game high 22 points in the final quarter.  Davidson’s defense clamped down not allowing any offensive rebounds as Lane’s boys were forced to take three pointer to get back in it.  When the smoke cleared, Davidson came out on top 51-39 to claim the crown.

In the 9-10 All Star Game, The RED team beat the BLUE team 104-90 marking the first time a 9-10 All Star team broken 100 points,  The game MVPs who received left over girls championship trophies in recognition were Ben Davidson for the BLUE team and Ethan Mugulick for the RED team.

The 11-12 All Star Game was an amazing display of both awesome offensive prowess including a thundering dunk by Ryan Hiebler but also fast paced run and gun style of play that had the fans in a frenzy.  In the end, both team set single game scoring records as the game ended in regulation in a 128-128 tie.   Overtime saw decided by a single three pointer as BLUE prevailed over RED 131-128.  Jack Andrews was named MVP for the BLUE team while Casey Clarke was named MVP for the RED team.

Estimated attendance for all four events combined was 547 fans.

Thanks for a great season and remember signups start on 8-1-2023.  This years senior class had 60 players…that is a tough number for the class of 2024 to beat but they are going to have to if the boys are going to 24 teams….just sayin’….

My final words are as follows…. defense, layups and free throws win championships….PERIOD!!!

THE JUNIOR SENIOR ALL STARS WITH COACHES HILLMAN AND SINNOTT

THE FINAL FOURS

What a night here at St Stephen’s Field House as a new Cinderella emerges in the girls division and the other Cinderella is left walking around with runs in her stockings, missing a shoe and dreaming about what could have been.  The contrast in the joy and the pain is striking….OK, that might be a little over the top, but something amazing happened tonight.

The first game of the evening pitted the unbeaten, 17-0 Wilson team against the bottom seeded, 3-14 Linton team in what was supposed to be an eventual coronation of Wilson for the 2022-23 FABL Senior Girls Champion while being the only undefeated team in the history of the league.  Linton’s girls were having none of it.

Linton jumped out to an early 10-7 lead after the 1st and lead by as many as 12 in the 2nd before Wilson put on a furious rally closing to 23-20 at the half.  This writer thinking, “OK, here we go again” left at halftime to get a pizza at my favorite restaurant, Basta Pasta, BTW most people don’t know they make pizza and darn good pizza at that….anyway, boy was I wrong.  Linton outscored Wilson 16-8 in the third to take a 39-28 lead into the final stanza….the blue team, led by Madison Rytina (21 pts), Melody Leiva and Mariah Williams with 11 each certainly were starting to believe.  Wilson, led by Madelyn Lopata with 16 and Carlie Plitt with 10 mounted a furious attempt at a comeback only to fall short 48-40 leaving the 4th seeded, underdog, new Cinderella Linton to celebrate as they head to Saturday’s Final at 1:00 PM.

They will face second seeded Lucus who bested Rosati in a low scoring 18-8 game that featured some very tough defense and tougher breaks around the rim.  Julia Lucas led all scorers with six for the victors while Jenna Cohen put up 4 in the loss.

In the first game of the boys Final 4, the former Cinderella 17th seeded Coelho fell to top seeded Davidson 43-35.  Brayden Gmeiner led the victors with a game high 17, complimented by big man Ryan Hiebler with 11.  Josh Dearborn completed his FABL career with a team high 16 along with Gavin Konigsdorffer with 9 in the loss.  Davidson moves on to face 3rd seeded Lane who again came back from a large deficit with a smothering press and timely shooting for a win over upstart Driscoll.

Driscoll went on a 14-0 run after falling behind early and cruised to the half looking good with a 23-13 lead.  The problem is that Lanes press is in the business of making you look bad.  They outscored the camo team 20-6 in the third to take a lead that they would never give up on the way to a convincing 46-37 win.   Bryan McLaughlin led his team with 12 points in the loss while Austin Wadlington led all Final 4 scorers with a night high 21 points.  Tyler Ruch again had a solid night scoring 12 and playing some outstanding defense.

In case you are wondering, I do have a favorite for tomorrows final….the problem is that I am running the clock don’t want to be accused of anything untoward!!!!  Statistically these are the two best defenses in the league.  I have always said that defense wins championships… and it is so cool to be right and at least be recognized by myself for my analytical prowess.  Truth?  I’m not picking a winners nor do I have a favorite.  All I know is the St. Stephen’s Field House will be rockin’ tomorrow at 2:15.  You don’t want to miss this.

THE ELITE 8

The night started with a rematch of Pieranunzi and Lane from earlier this season.  After falling behind 29-17 at the half, Lane’s boys fought back furiously finally regaining the lead early in the fourth quarter to win going away 52-44.  Wadlington scored 17 and Ruch 11 in the win while Davis scored 10 and Blyden scored 9 in the loss.  In the other quarter final for the bracket, Driscoll pulled off an unlikely 40-37 upset relying on Bryan McLaughlin with 15 points to lead all scorers.  Both Kessler and Motter had 9 in the loss.  Friday’s Semi is a rematch of a 44-41 Davidson win earlier this season.  It is hard to beat a team twice in a season.  I’m just sayin’.

The much anticipate Bufano vs Davidson matchup turned in to a low scoring and frustrating affair for both teams.  Nothing seemed to go in as Bufano was 5 for 16 from the line while Davidson was a respectable 6 for 12.  Only Ryan Hiebler scored in double figures with 12, although team mate Platt had a respectable 8 points.  Califano and Long manager 7 each in the loss.  And, finally we meet Cinderella….  the 17th seeded, upstart Coelho managed to pull ahead and win in the fourth quarter on the back of an 11-6 run while prevailing 46-42.  Oft injured Dearborn had 12 and Konigsdorffer made up for the previous game’s lackluster performance with a team high 13.  Colton Rexrode scored a game high, Elite 8 high 18 points in the loss.  Remines also put up 11 in the loss.  The last time Coelho met Davidson they were smacked around in a 48-33 loss.  If Dearborn is healthy, this will be a fun game to watch.

So unlike “FAT TUESDAY” and all the mayhem, “ASH WEDNESDAY” turned out to be normal at St Stephen’s Field House.  Thank you to everyone who reacted positively to last evening’s blog and thank’s to those in the 7:00 time slot who were inconvenienced by having to park in the lower level.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Unlike Tuesday night, there were no upsets in the back half of the Sweet 16 games.  Liska handled Haynes 44-33 on the backs of Nicholas McGhin (14), Mason Perkins (11)…could have been 17 except he was 2 for 8 from the charity stripe….and Colin Perrier (11).  Haynes scoring was spread among 7 players led by Tim Bennett with 7 and Tyler McLaughlin and Tanner Herring with 6 apiece.  In the sister game, Driscoll led from the outset and never looked back winning 48-38.  Nine players scored for the camo team including Bryan McLaughlin with 12, Nate Wolfe with 9 and Gavin Merchant with 8.  Nick Duvall led all scorers with 13 points but the green team could not muster consistent offense to pull the upset.  Liska and Driscoll will meet in a rematch of the 39-30 Liska win from Game 11.

Pieranunzi overcame a 20-10 first half deficit to win 36-28 in a tough defensive battle against rival McCain.  Jedidiah Kim led all scorers with 11 points in a losing effort while the grey team was led by senior Edwin Blyden with 10 points.  In the Thursday nightcap, Kimmett showed some early life holding a 23-22 halftime lead but the 3 Seed Lanes relentless pressure crumbled the blue team in the second half. Tyler Dinicola led all scorers will raining in 3 pointers like it was his job with 18 points in a losing effort while Tyler Ruch led Lane with 17 accompanied by Austin Wadlington with 11.  The Lane vs Pieranunzi matchup could be the best game on the Elite 8.  This is a rematch of a 43-38 win by Pieranunzi in week 12 of the season.  Hold on to your horses!!!!

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Before I recap the first night of Sweet 16 competition, I feel I must take the time to remind everyone about a few standards that we maintain as a league.  I only do this because, while I did see a lot of great things tonight at the gym, there were a few things that can make this program suffer needlessly.

We have a league that is run by both volunteers and professionals.  We have 20 coaches, 3 of whom open and close and set up the gym throughout the season.  We have not only me as the commissioner, but the board of the league who have given 100% support to this league in the form  of the gym, uniforms and equipment, scheduling the officials, raising funds for the scholarship program….all of this in their spare time.  We pay our officials to ref our games….if you have never officiated a game, I can tell you from experience that rec level high school boys is the most difficult sport to ref…so mistakes will be made.

This brings me to one of the major concerns I have.  We as players, coaches and fans have lost our perspective….this is just rec basketball PERIOD!!!!   Tonight, one of our officials was threatened by an adult spectator because of the game.  I was there watching the whole thing and I think that not only did the refs get it right, they did a great job the whole night.  We collectively need to step back and take a breath…this activity must stop now and we must work together to stop it.

Now, on top of everything else, one of our players cars was hit in the parking lot and the driver just kept on going.  This is the kind of cowardly act that really rips at the fabric of our community.  If anyone has information, please reach out to me and I will pass in on in confidence.

One other issue I must address is the common practice of everyone and anyone going on the floor and shooting between games and at halftime.  This has to stop now.  God forbid that someone gets hurt.  We are not insured for this type of activity.  Please respect this new rule.

THERE!!!   Let’s finish this season right.  OH!  I forgot to tell everyone, the scholarship program has been expanded to three winners.  The entries were great and the league and other sponsors generously came up with some more cash!!!

TUESDAY’S GAMES 

Coelho came up with the first upset of the night beating Matthews 39-37 in a close, down to the wire battle.  Josh Dearborn led all scorers with 16 points while Aiden Heidtman put up 12 in a losing effort.  The last time a seed higher than a 14 went to the Elite 8, they ended up winning the championship…..I’m just sayin’.

The injury riddled Hamill put up a great effort but came up short falling to Hearn 44-34.  Colin Rexrode led all scorers with a blistering 28 points while Xander Shambeau led the effort for Hamill with 10 points.  Hearn meets Coehlo in the Elite 8 on Thursday night.

In a rematch of the 56-54 double overtime Bufano over Wolfe week 17 win, these guys just did it again.  First off, WOW what a game.  Bufano won 54-53 in overtime.  Wolfe had balanced scoring led by Casey Clarke with 17, Sam Kraft with 11 and Ethen Magulick with 10.  Bufano got outstanding play from Alex Pearl with 14, Dominic Califano with 13 and Ethan Long with 10.  I wish we could have this matchup one more time this season….maybe a feature game after the final….unless of course coach Bufano gets his third ring!!!

In the nightcap, the upset minded Hickey gave top seed Davidson everything the could handle before dropping a 41-40 scourcher in the final seconds.  Nick Doyle led all scorers in the loss with 15 while Ryan Hiebler scored 14 for the winners.

Davidson meets Bufano in a can’t miss Thursday night Elite 8 game that is sure to be a classic.

Monday nights President’s Day “play in” games

set the tone for the post season with a couple of upsets and some good games.

The night began with Kimmett besting the Dreamsicles 54-51 led by Tyler Dinicola with 12 and brother Carter with 14.  Jeremy Frattali led all scores with 185 in the loss.

Haynes outscored Miller 54-36 on the back of Breadon Chubb’s 14 and Matthew Ford’s 13.  Ian Alexander led Miller with 18 points.

Coelho got a boost from the return of senior Josh Dearborn’s 22 and Dom Damico’s 14 while beating Frey 61-36.  Owen Roach led the green team with 19 in the loss.

In the nightcap, Hickey outran Gallagher 50-42 in 21 points for Nick Doyle and 14 from Joe Hickey.  Luke Gallagher had 15 for the losers.

Play continues tonight with four games starting at 6 PM.

TEAM EVALUATIONS

20 SEED GALLAGHER:  Their 1-16 record almost doesn’t make sense.  Here is a team that has solid upper classmen is senior Luke Gallagher (10.12 PPG, 467 career points), Cameron Shelley (4.57 PPG) and Mason Lee (4.08 PPG) as well as freshman Charlie Hitzel (10.07 PPG and 141 points, 16 more than Aiden Addison in his freshman year) and sophomore Brady Hamilton (5.36 PPG).  On paper they are solid but they suffer from poor free throw shooting and lacking second half defense.  They were within 5 points of the lead at the half 11 times this season.  They need to learn how to finish and learn fast.  1-16 doesn’t do this team justice.  The GALLAGHER vs. HICKEY playin game will be their first meeting of the season.

19 SEED MILLER:  So, when your offense is not as strong as you would like, you better play good defense.  This team does.  They are ranked 19^th in offensive output but a respectable 8^th in overall defense.  There is some respectable firepower on the team with Ian Alexander (14.43 PPG) and Justin Chae, Justin Kish and freshman Sean Crochunis all capable of breakout games…Crochunis scored 18 in the season finally.  We think the missing ingredient is offense output from senior Zachary Hroblak.  For this team, as Hroblak goes, so goes the grey team.  Their first round game is a rematch of the 53-50 shootout with HAYNES in week 10 of the season won by HAYNES.  Anything can happen here!!!

18 SEED KIMMETT:  It is tough to see a trend for a team when they have inconsistent attendance, top 3 players missed a total of 21 games, and it is also hard to gel as a team as well.  That being said, Kimmett has won two of their last three games entering the playoffs on a streak.  Tyler Dinicola leads all scorers with 17.23 PPG followed by streaky Dominic Crisp with 11.50 PPG.  Carter Dinicola is respectable with 7.63 PPG as are Zach Dye (4.14), Brody McCormick (3.86) and Trent Long (3.60).  One of the secondary players needs to step up to make a difference in the playoffs.  This is a rematch of a 60-46 loss to the Creamsicles in Week 13.  This is one to watch.

17 SEED COELHO:   This is a tough one to figure out.  This team started the season with a couple of tough losses as the team got to know each other then lost top pick point guards Josh Dearborn and Casen Ferment, both out for the season.  We were lucky enough to find Gavin Konigsdorffer (14.17 PPG) to help with ball handling but the team was still epically shorthanded.  Dom Damico (11.80 PPG) had to split duties between basketball and varsity wrestling.  Sam Clarke (3.47), Zack Clarke (2.50), Aidan McKnight (3.58), Dominec Rodrigues-Riera (3.67) and Mike Pepe (3.54) tried to pick up the slack but the offense still ranked 20^th in the league.  On top of that, defense was lacking giving up 53.82 PPG.  Then something cool just happened.  Josh Dearborn was cleared to play with 2 games left.  They lost game 16 by the usual margin but they took 6^th seeded Pieranunzi to overtime before losing by 2 points.  This is the type of team that could be trouble if they get hot and start to believe, like I do.   Just sayin’.

16 SEED FREY:  Every era has a team the is characterized as gun slingers, love to run and gun….it used to be the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (114 PPG in college), the NBA Lakers in the OG Showtime averaging 135 ppg.  What these teams did a lot of is shoot 3 pointers….and make them.  Frey averages 6.6 three point shots made per game.  Noone knows how many they missed but this team truly lives and dies on the 3 point shot.  Top scorer Owen Roach averages 14.85 PPG and is complimented by Michael Njoku with 8.64 PPG.  Nate Frey (5.14), Shayne Tourangeau (4.93) and Andrew Melton (6.40) round out decent offensive output.  On the other hand, their defense is abysmal giving up 54.60 PPG ranked 19^th in the league.  The end result is (-10.67) PPG differential.  These boys better learn how to run and rebound or Cinderella will not be going to the ball.

15 KIRBY’S CREAMSICLES:  So usually every season each team picks their own team name.  This season, business was so good on the home inspection side of the business, I did not have time to announce or even collect team names, but Kirby took the initiative to name for me.  Thanks orange team.  Anyway, the deal with this team is that they are as bad at defense as they are good at offense.  6^th in scoring 49.31 PPG, and leading the league in threes with 110….BUUUUUUT, 18^th in team defense giving up 54.38 PPG.  Have you ever been to a bull fight (animal rights activists just calm down for a minute, this is just an analogy), this team plays defense like a Toreador!!!  Here comes the fast break and OLE!!! Sidestep out of the way…and their hair doesn’t even get messed up.  (OK, I’ll stop).  On offense, they can play with anyone and have one of the deepest and most balanced attacks in the league.  Lead by Jeremy Fratelli (11.64) and Jack Sellars (8.07), this team has multiple weapons.  Occasional bomber Jackson Ricks (7.21), steady Colin Murphy (6.77), sneaky fast Andrew Nelson (6.40) consistent Danny Nelson (6.27) and cerebral Jack Naecker (4.47) make a group of 5 guys that can breakout at any time.  If they could just play defense.  What have I always said, defense, rebounds, layups and free throws win championships.  Six days to practice…11 days to destiny….get out in the driveway and shoot some free throws for goodness sake!

14 SEED HAYNES:  Talk about snakebit.  This team lost their last three games, two of them by two points or less to fall into the “play in” games.  I’ve seen this kind of reverse action before, maybe it was bad luck, maybe they were missing key players….NAH!!!   You know what I think the problem is?  They are like a tee-pee inside of a wigwam…..TOO TENTS! (get it? …tense). They just need to relax.  Plya the way they did when they beat the likes of Pieranunzi 43-38, or Driscoll 50-49 or Hillman 56-54.  They need to get their Mojo back (notice the shameless self-promotion as my wife Andrea’s company Mojo Art and Image provide our uniforms).  OK, back to the boys…You have Tim Bennett (11.38), Tanner Herring (10.53), Braeden Chubb (12.31) and Tyler McLaughlin (10.36) who represent the only quartet in the league all scoring in double figures.  (Taking out the soapbox)…defensively, they may be the worst team in the long and storied history of FABL Showtime…giving up almost 55 points a game!!!  Has anyone ever seen the cover of the Led Zepplin I album….similar style of defense.  I will not repeat myself from earlier assessments but I do know this, get some sleep, eat right, come out with purpose and this team can win it all.  Time for the seniors to step up and take control.  (Mic Drop).

13 SEED HICKEY:  This team took a similar path as HAYNES backing into the playoffs with three straight losses.  This is another tough team to figure out.  They are first in the league in scoring with 51.29 PPG yet seem allergic to defense as the 16^th ranked team in the league.  The problem is that it is getting worse.  They are giving up close to 60 points a game in 5 of their last 6 games.  (I will whisper this….run, rebound, contest and you will be tough to beat)….Nick Doyle lead all scorers on the team with 24.65 PPG and is complimented by three point shooting champ Joe Hickey Jr with 11.71 PPG.  Jacob Klein adds 5.27 and Colin Murray puts up 5.59 PPG.  Let’s see 24.65 + 11.71 + 5.27 + 5.59 = 47.22 PPG with just 4 guys.  Play a little defense and you can win going away.  Just need one more player to step up on offense.  Any volunteers?

12 SEED HEARN:  With 4 weeks to go, the blue team was 4-9 staring straight down the barrel of the play in shotgun thinking that their season could be over as fast as it started.  Then something strange happened.  They put a good old fashioned Southern Carroll County redneck smackdown on Coelho 57-45, lost a close one to the surging pink Matthews team 47-44, cranked up the offense again, this time mostly with out fifth leading senior scorer Colton Rexrode’s services (20.53 PPG) to beat Gallagher 48-31 and had their most complete effort of the season beating Hickey 61-59 to stay out of the basement and secure the 12 SEED.  This team is respectable on offense lead by Rexrode, suddenly potent sophomore Rocky Remines who scored 21 and 17 points in the final two games of the season, Logan Cyford (4.83), Ben Bergamaschi (3.86) and freshman Joe Hearn (3.57).  defensively, they are 16^th in the league and will need top performance from the upper classmen to make a difference in the playoffs.  Their Sweet 16 matchup against the injured Hamill will tell us if this team is ready for the big time.  I say YES!!

11 SEED MC CAIN:  When your record is 8-9 and you are 16^th in the league in scoring and 11^th on defense it usually means that you were decent some of the time and you sucked the rest of the time.  Well, this is not the case with the red team.  After 10 weeks, they had a record of 2-8 and no one was taking them seriously.  Since then, their only misstep was a 51-42 loss to Lane in a game where they were missing both Luke McCain (9.53) (every time he sees his coach dad, the coach reminds him “I am your father Luke”…kinda funny) and Jedidiah Kim (5.62).  When fully staffed, they have won 6 of 7 with the most balanced offense in the league.  Dom Diblasi (7.87), Ryan Llewellyn (6.56) and  Ebube Chukwuka-Eze (4.60) not only combine for the most interesting group of names in the league but also a strong true team featuring good defense and selfless offense.  I wouldn’t want to face them in the playoffs.  This could be the best 11 Seed  ever entering the playoffs.

10 SEED HILLMAN:  So you know what they say about experience….”All the experience in the world is great, until you get punched in the face”….that may not be accurate but it suits my needs.  This team started off reasonably well with a record of 3-2 against tough competition, then they got punched in the face in Game 6 by Lane 37-35, then Hickey 64-54, then Pieranunzi 50-42, then…well you get what I mean.  Games 6 through 10 were a blood bath and this team was suddenly 3-7 and everyone is asking WTH has happened to Hillman.  (I’m thinking that you watch, he’s gonna coach these boys up).  Well then, Nick Duvall finally figured out it was time to lead.  Duvall averaged 23.58 PPG, set a league record with 48 points in a single game against Bufano and had career highs 3 times this season.  His biggest contribution is that he made the players around him better….better basketball players and better team mates.  Mason Plummer (9.93) had 5 double figure games down the stretch, Colin Grimsley (7.94) played not like a sophomore but like an upper classman, Reid Hecox (6.71) and brother Ryder (2.08) became tough defensive “stoppers”, Nolan Restivo (4.00) provided solid and valuable minutes along side Zach Rose (3.19), Dylan Reisig (2.69) and Bryce Douglas (1.47).  Coach Hillman has this team coached up and ready to make a run.  Watch and learn.

9 SEED BUFANO:  This is another one of those teams that started slow, 2-6 out of the box and righted the ship with a 7-2 record down the stretch.  This team has the second best average player turn out in the league with an average of 8.94 roster players at each game.  That says a lot for any team to be in contention for the championship and have such a good turn out.  What this team doesn’t know is that their coach Nate Bufano has as much playoff experience as anyone who has ever coached in the league.  His teams have won 2 championships making Nate the only coach in FABL Showtime history.  Mix that experience with this formidable balanced scoring attack that includes Alex Pearl (10.55), Austen Veach (8.44), Ethan Long (8.38), Dom Califano (5.69), Jaedon Dobres (5.65), Carson Zepp (4.94), Sanchith Sundararaj (4.41), Andrew Mayorga (2.64), Arjun Singh (1.46) and Cameron Dobres (0.56) and this team is going to be tough to put out of the tournament.  They can hurt you from every position and they are decent 3 point shooters as well.  I will be fun to see who steps up to be a standout as the playoffs evolve.  Don’t be surprised if they are on this team.  Experience matters!!!

8 SEED WOLFE:  The other experienced coach in this tournament has been managing the purple team for at least 10 years.  Brian Wolfe’s passion for Freedom Basketball is so strong that he continues to coach even when he doesn’t have a dog in the fight.  Three sons have gone through the program and none of them are in jail.  That says a lot.  Now this yeas team struggled to find their legs loosing the first three and struggling to an opening 3-6 record.  Then they started playing like a team….different players stepping up at different times.  Their third ranked offense match with a 13^th ranked defense helped them rattle off 6 wins in a row until they suffered back to back disappointing losses to back into the playoffs.  You can bet that Coach Wolfe will have them ready to play.  This premier offense feature Casey Clark (15.25), Sam Kraft (12.50, Jordan DeVincent, the craft senior guard (8.92), Ethan Magulick (5.94), Grant Bernstein (4.67) with Gavin Rudy and Sean Kane scoring 3.38 and 3.29 respectively.  6 of 10 players have broken double figures at least once this season so this is a true 4 quarters offense to be reconned with.  This may be the year for purple.

7 SEED DRISCOLL:   Now we get into the meat and potatoes of the league.  The camo team is 10^th in offense and 11^th in defense which means that they aren’t great at anything and they aren’t bad at anything.  This along with their enthusiastic fan base make them very dangerous.  Also they are kind of giant killers in  that the have beaten both Pieranunzi and Lane this season.  This “sleeper” lineup consists of high scoring senior Bryan McLaughlin (16.13), Nate Wolfe (8.44) Brady Fitzpatrick (6.92) and Alex Raihl (6.81).  This team comes into the playoffs hot having won their last three games.  This team will be fun to watch and fun to cheer for.

6 SEED PIERANUNZI:  After a deep dive into the stats, this team that is led by seniors Noah Davis (13.29), Edwin Blyden (11.47) and Graham Bergen (9.12) is the only team in the league to defeat three of the top five seeds in the tournament over the last month.  Most recently they have lost a couple of games by only a basket but they are considered one of the elite teams in the tournament.  Their first round matchup is against McCain in a rematch of an overtime 46-44 loss on 1-28-2023.  This team is 12^th in offense but their 6^th ranked defense allows them to compete with anyone.  If they score 45 they will win.

5 SEED HAMILL:  After injuries to key players Aiden Addison (29.27 PPG) and Austin Shade (8.53 PPG) Hamill is having a hard time generating offense while losing their last three games.   Shade is out for the season and Addison, the second player in FABL history to score 1,000 points, still day to day, their playoff run could be brief.  Michael Ellis (5.21), Ethan Crosby (7.40) Gabriel Cox (3.80) and Ethan Addison (3.75) don’t provide enough offensive fire power and defensive might to effectively compete.  If Hamill’s training staff and doctors allow it, Addison’s return would be greatly welcomed.  Let’s wait and see.

4 SEED MATTHEWS:  After starting the season with 7 straight wins, then losing 3 of 4, Matthews has seemingly righted the ship and looks to be firing on all cylinders.  They gave top seed Davidson a run for the money in the season’s final gave before losing 35-34 in a game that may serve to fuel the fire to win the whole shebang.  Led by seniors Jack Pellicciotti (22.56), Aiden Heidtman (10.63) along with sophomore Ben Welsh (6.56) this balanced offense is complimented by a stingy defense.  Cinderella could be wearing pink to the ball this year.

3 SEED LANE:  After losing their season opener, this team rattled off ten straight wins before a disappointing second loss of the season to Pieranunzi.  They can brag that they are the only team to beat top seeded Davidson in a 44-33 drubbing in game 14.  This number 1 defense shuts down any and all comers giving up only 38.41 PPG and also led the league with a 10.06 point differential.  Top scorers include sophomore Tyler Ruch (11.56), senior Austin Wadlington (10.60) Hayden Speace (7.18), Alex Jaar (6.53) and Hunter Elrod (6.41).  This balanced attack is tough to beat especially when one player has an off day, others pick up the slack.  Look forward to an Elite 8 rematch with Pieranunzi to be one of the best games of the tournament.  Also, note that Lane and 2 seed  Liska have never faced off….hmmmmm.

2 SEED LISKA:  With the 4^th ranked offense, 3^rd ranked defense, 2^nd ranked point differential and the top position in Power Rankings…not to mention 13 straight wins, their only loss coming to top seed Davidson, this is a team you might not want to square off with.  They just keep winning.  Their two top scorers and Freshman Phenom Mason Perkins (11.67 PPG) and Sophomore Sensation Nicholas McGhin (11.50 PPG).  These unlikely young ballin studs are complimented by Colin Perrier (8.94), Cole Motter (7.25) who recently came off of injured reserve, Ryan Durborow (5.63),  Michael Smith (6.00) and Blake Kessler (4.57).  they may be young but they play like season veterans under pressure.  Coach Liska hopes to finish his 9^th season as coach with a championship.  How can you not root for that?

1 SEED DAVIDSON:  Some teams seem to know how to win, not always with big margins but just win.  Winning is contagious.  Winning is also fun and this team really enjoys playing and winning.  Their stats are impressive, 7^th on offense, 2^nd on defense, 3^rd in point differential and 7^th in three point shooting.  The only loss they suffered was against Lane when 2 of their top players had an off night.  By and large, Ryan Hiebler (12.53), Ryan McKenna (8.29), Jonah Platt (8.81), Brayden Gmeiner (8.14) and Ben Davidson (5.18) give Coach Davidson the kind of depth and consistency that other teams envy.  I say losing week 14 took all the pressure off and now it’s time to make that championship run.  A once famous philosopher, Kent “Flounder” Dorfman once said “This is going to be GREAT”.  I agree!!!