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“Fire and Ice” can describe both of these teams for their fiery hoop skills, and also for their intensity! Both teams are no strangers to a lot of contact, and a lot of smack talk. Psychological warfare was on the ticket for this game, and it was served hot to start the game!

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The first half was filled with up and down action as bodies collided, and also hit the floor HARD! The brewing animosity between these two teams stems from years and seasons of competition and bad blood. Rumor has it, one of the players from Flight was in a bench clearing 20 man brawl 5+ seasons ago. That altercation was not forgotten, and you could hear and see it on the court! Both teams “smacked” and “Counter-smacked” each other through out the first half, ending with a one point lead in favor of Haides!

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As the volume of the smack talk became louder, Haides fed on the trash talk and threw back some of their own. The difference between the smack talk session was that Haides clearly took advantage of the trash talk, and used it to focus in on execution! Haides’ Clancy was all over the floor with the brightest pink Nike ¾ shoes you will see, but his game was flashy too as he scored 10 of 19 points in the 2nd half! The game seemed to be close enough for a comeback in the game, but the energy on the Haides side made that less that possible. To cap the game, Mannie “Hit Em’ with the Hook Shot” Deo” knocked down his first three pointer of the season!

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The Haides team win was in perfect timing with the Christmas break, and the playoff standings!

Haides – Clancy #1 19 points 12 rebounds and 3 block shots

Flight – Trey 19 points 8 rebounds

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SWAT’s Magic Number was 8 tonight! For the first time all season, SWAT had 90% of their team at the game and ready to go. Sofa King Good on the other hand, barely had 5 run through the door after being delayed at a train crossing! To make matters worse, SKG was without their leading scorer Alex.

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That fact would be painfully obvious to start the game, as they would fall behind quick, fast, and in a hurry. SWAT would hit on their first three shots from behind the arc. SKG would break the run with a layup to make it 9-2 with 3 minutes gone in the first half. Swat would run the lead back to 9, midway through the 1st half only to see a methodical surge by SKG. SWAT would close the half on some good hustle on offense and defense by Chris “OG” Peerless!

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Even with an 8 point lead, Swat would still need a solid effort in the 2nd half to hold off SKG. It was easier said than done, as SKG methodically crawled their way back in the game with solid stops, and

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timely fast break layups. The “Palmer Zone” played a big part in limiting the open shots SWAT had in the first half. SKG would take a small lead at 42-41, but SWATs hustle on the boards would lead to second chance buckets. SKG would tighten up the zone, and force Swat to call a time out midway through the 2nd half to stem the tide. The play would go back and forth for the remainder of the game, and that favored SKG! Their zone forced a number of turnovers and run out layups, that gave SKG a 4 point late game lead. With 9 seconds left, SKG forced another turnover that led to another end of the game layup.

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SKG – “Mad Man” Eddie Fan 33 points (1 three pointer, 30 points on 2s)

SWAT - Neil Oykoya – 18 points 13 rebounds