In a game that took a lot longer than it had to, the Moonshiners finally reached 21 points to put away Ghetto Fab, a squad of girls from Pasquerilla West who showed up for the game in white tank-tops with messages written in marker. Ghetto Fab member Julie Opet said the messages were not meant to have a purpose.Although Ghetto Fab won the coin toss, it was The Moonshiners who got off to a fast start by forcing turnovers on each of Ghetto Fab's first two possessions and executing the break perfectly for a 2-0 lead.At that point it appeared the game would be over quickly, but Eric Blevins of the Moonshiners decided to take a larger role in his team's offense. Blevins made it abundantly clear that he did not mind shooting the ball. His first, from beyond the 3-point arc, cleared the backboard, hitting the metal pole behind it, and the second cleared everything. Blevins was heard, after each shot, saying, "That was pretty close."If not for the efforts of Rob Gilmer it is hard to say whether this game would have ever ended. Gilmer, known as "The Toledo Tornado" in homage to his hometown and his patented spin move down in the post, put up six points and eight rebounds to lead the way for the Moonshiners. Opet led the way for Ghetto Fab, scoring three of the team's four points. After the game, Opet and her teammates were only mildly disappointed."Our shots weren't falling," Opet said. "We hadn't planned on winning this game, but we hope this will help us do better in the women's tournament."
Team Awesome 21, We Go Down the Court 2In a game that came dangerously close to being a shutout, Team Awesome made quick work of We Go Down the Court, a team comprised of five McGlinn girls. Team Awesome was led by its trio of Pats - Pat O'Brien. Pat Conley and Pat "Tastycakes" Gotebeski - who had their own cheering section, as three of their male friends stood on the sidelines, bare-chested, with the letters P-A-T emblazoned in green on their chests.Team Awesome maintained a high-intensity playing style throughout the game, long after the outcome was no longer in doubt. Whether they were just exhibiting their work ethic or needlessly trying to embarrass their opponents is hard to say, but We Go Down the Court's Katie Grimes let her disapproval be known."We considered this a chance to tune-up for the women's tournament, but apparently it was also a way to boost the self-esteem of some of the men on campus," Grimes said.
U Got A Bad Draw 21, The Diamond Dick Podell Experience 8In a game that was delayed fifteen minutes while U Got a Bad Draw waited for team member Brady Quinn to arrive, the defending champs showed Diamond Dick just how literally to interpret their name.Before the game, the members of the Diamond Dick Podell Experience, who named themselves after an old man they met in Osco who claimed to have been a waterboy for Notre Dame in the days of Knute Rockne, appeared optimistic, almost to the point of being brash."We're honored to have the opportunity to knock out the big guns," team member Dick Dunne said.Sam Young of DDPE listed what he thought were his team's main advantages over the defending champs."Power, size, speed - I think we've got all three," Young said.Along with Quinn, U Got a Bad Draw features offensive lineman Dan Stevenson (6-foot-6, 297 pounds) and offensive lineman Scott Raridon (6-foot-6, 315 pounds), who is playing in the place of Chinedum Ndukwe.U Got a Bad Draw came out for the start of the game wearing brand-new, shiny red uniforms, the team name across the chest and each player's number on the back along with a nickname instead of their surnames. Both teams struggled to score early, as the game appeared to be a contest between two top-tier defenses. DDPE put up a good fight, at one point down only 9-5 and 11-6 at the half. In the second half, however, the athleticism of the defending champs wore down DDPE, as U Got a Bad Draw closed the game on a 10-2 run. Quinn hit the game winner, a leaner from the free-throw line.The game was very physical, with a lot of rough contact between opposing players. At one point in the first half, Chinedum Ndukwe, who was acting as coach of the champs, had to run in to break up a shouting match between Stevenson and some of the DDPE players before it could escalate into something worse. Tempers cooled, and the second-half was incident free.
