The 2008 Bookstore Basketball tournament kicked off Monday. Despite bad weather, the first day featured excited players and at least one big upset.
Team 535 21, Team 490 10
Team 535 dominated team 490 and won with intricate passing, great teamwork and key steals and blocks. But the strategies of the two squads also proved to be a key in the well-played game.
"Our strategy to win the game was to just wing it," said senior Derek Lipp of team 535. "We have four seniors and a freshman on this team and it was especially fun for the seniors because this was our first win ever."
It was a different story for team 490, who dedicated the game to physics professor Christopher Kolda.
"Our gameplan consisted of going to the Rock two hours before our game and scrimmaged some random team," freshman Ben Linskey said. "Then we went to dinner afterwards, so we had absolutely no energy when it came time to play."
Although the lack of energy proved detrimental to team 490, the squad put up tough resistance as 535 tried to get the last two points in the second half.
Lipp said 535 will not significantly change its approach.
"[Our strategy] will probably not change. Our goal was to win one game and we did that."
Spiny Backed Arabian Tortoises 21,
Team Bad Life Decisions 15
The Spiny Backed Arabian Tortoises earned a well-fought victory over Team Bad Life Decisions. Although the male Tortoises ended up winning, the girls from Decisions played them even the whole game.
In the hour and 10 minute game, the defense of Decisions made it difficult for the Tortoises. However, their offense couldn't handle the intense defense from the Tortoises, which proved to be the difference in the contest. Both teams threw up multiple airballs and displayed questionable passing, but the game intensified as the Tortoises couldn't make their final shot.
After several failed attempts, Tortoises guard Kyle Hanratty ended the marathon game with a corner shot from three-point range.
We're the Real Reason Brett Favre Is Crying 23, U Got A Bad Draw 1 1/2 21
In an epic struggle that lasted nearly an hour and forty-five minutes, We're the Real Reason Brett Favre Is Crying held off U Got A Bad Draw 1 1/2 in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
Bad Draw, which was composed of club lacrosse players from Holy Cross, came out with a fiery display of confidence.
But this cockiness was short-lived as the all-female team, Brett Favre, stormed out to an 11-5 halftime lead.
"We simply need more electrolytes," Bad Draw team member Dave Bendel chanted as he ran over to his team's community Gatorade bottle.
Similar to the bottle of "Michael's stuff" from the movie "Space Jam," the Gatorade seemed to revitalize Bad Draw as it managed to fight back and tie the game at 17.
The final minutes of the game were grueling as the two teams traded baskets.
As team members from other games began to come over to cheer for the ladies of "Brett Favre," the girls capitalized on the crowd momentum and pulled off the narrow victory.
"We absolutely played our hearts out today. We kept it together at the end when we needed to," captain Emily Dore said. "It was truly amazing."
Bendel was quick to dismiss the loss.
"I blame it on the weather ... and the hot girls," he said.
On this day, the only thing sloppier than the rainy weather was the play of the two teams. Frequent turnovers, errant shots, constant complaints, and even a 15-minute scoreless period all contributed to the ridiculous length of this contest.
Carrolynn's Chub Club 21, Scurrying Lemurs 12
A bone-chilling, earth-shattering block by Patrick Mulligan was all Carolynn's Chub Club, needed to down the Scurrying Lemurs Monday at Lyons courts.
"I saw her coming down the court. It was just me and her," Mulligan said about the block. "As soon as I smelled weakness, I attacked."
Mulligan sent the ball flying out of bounds, but the damage had been done. The Scurrying Lemurs' confidence was shot and Carolynn's Chub Club, the dirtiest team name to sneak by the Bookstore censors in years, took over from there.
After facing an 11-2 deficit heading into halftime, the Scurrying Lemurs thought they had a good second half plan to get them back in the game.
"We need to get the ball to our secret weapon," captain Holly Hinz said to her team between halves.
What they failed to account for was Mulligan's game-breaking ability that ultimately sealed their fate.
"We tried to pull it together and make a comeback," Hinz said. "It just wasn't enough and we came up short."
LHOOQ 21, Equestrians 3
The Notre Dame/Saint Mary's Equestrian Club usually just rides horses and travels to competitions, but Monday it took to the bookstore courts to take on LHOOQ, a team named after a French painting making fun of the Mona Lisa.
The Equestrian girls came out in almost full gear, mostly in riding breeches, a few in riding boots, one in riding boot socks covered in flames, and one in a riding helmet. Their opponents were two guys, one in short shorts and sunglasses, the other in shorter shorts and a bandana around his curly mass of hair, and three girls, all in regular sweatpants and tee-shirts.
The game started off as a contest of which team could actually hit the rim first. Airballs were the trend for much of the first half, but the Equestrians squad was the first to draw iron. However, LHOOQ scored the first point of the game, which was somewhat surprising since the team had a majority of the game's air balls up until that point.
Equestrians was unable to score many points in the first half, with its only point scored by helmet-clad Katrina Stuart. But it did keep its opponents fighting for the ball as they raced up and down the court. The most aggressive Equestrians players were Heather LaDue, Kelley Daniels, and Andrea Kochert, the team captain. The guys from the LHOOQ team weren't too happy with having to fight for the ball with girls, but they still showed no restraint.
LHOOQ led 11-1 at the half, and carried its momentum into the second half. The Equestrians scored its second point of the game, made by Stuart again, after LHOOQ had scored three more times. LHOOQ continued to score but the team's baskets were few and far between. Daniels scored the third basket for the Equestrians, bringing the score to 18-3. LHOOQ pulled out the win after a 50-minute game of air balls and back and forth play.
"It was a really physical game, but both teams played hard until the last point," LHOOQ captain Stephanie Brauer said.
"We played mean and strong, and it showed with our amazing three points. But we could out-horseback ride them any day," Equestrians captain Andrea Kochert said.
SensAsians tried for the third year in a row to make it to the second round, but its dreams were shot down by five tall guys who hardly gave the team a chance to score in the first half. Jordan's Nephews took down the hopeful SensAsians squad 21-5.
Jordan's Nephews, led by captain Tommy Mumford, were taking fancy shots and throwing full-court passes as they dominated the SensAsians, captained by Jean Nguyen. The girls showed little skill on the court, often throwing weak passes and shots that didn't make it into the net. What they did have were nicely-decorated red jerseys, complete with numbers and last names on the back, designed by Nguyen, along with a lively cheering section.
SensAsians was down 11-1 at halftime, with its only point coming from Melissa Harintho. Harintho scored three more in the second half, and Tatiane Hsu added a basket early on in the second period.
As the second half started, Jordan's Nephews started to ease up on the SensAsians, letting the team take more shots, most of which ended up being airballs. The boys continued with their long passes and fancy shots they knew would never work on any other court. SensAsians started to gain some momentum, but was stopped short by the Jordan's Nephews ball-hawking defense. However, the men did ease up on their defense a little, standing in front of the basket with their arms raised, which was defense enough due to the height advantage they had.
As the SensAsians kept taking shots that bounced off the rim, Jordan's Nephews continued to make them. But the winning team was courteous in the end and congratulated its opponent.
"We play as a group," SensAsians captain Nguyen said. "We have a little bit of a disadvantage with the height. It was fun, but hopefully one year we'll win a game."
