Playoff Semifinals Recap

Big Mike's Sports Rub 47
Beach City Market 34

Beach City controlled the pace early in this one, taking a 23-18 lead into halftime. Brent Kostelecky hit a pair of 3's and Sergio Villegas' 8 points led all scorers at half.

But the second half was a different story. Tight defense, missed layups, and turnovers doomed Beach City. Around the 10-minute mark, each team went into a fun that saw the score remain 32-31 for nearly 5 minutes. Big Mike's finally puled away, as Beach City went nearly 9 minutes without a field goal. Rob Simmons' 13 second-half points gave him a game-high 15. Teammate Josh Langham chipped in 13, while Villegas finished with 12 to lead Beach City.

Bulls & Bears 50
Urban Mo's 39

The two teams had played a pair of really tight games during the regular season, and this semifinal started off no different. Pressure defense from Mo's kept B&B's high-scoring offense in check early, but with the pressure came foul trouble for Mo's. Worse, scorer/rebounder Eric McDaniel was lost to injury late in the first half and wouldn't return. His injury came on the heels of a mini-run that saw B&B shut down PG Johnny Stultz and company, as Mo's couldn't generate much offense and went into half trailing 23-10. B&B has allowed just 19 points combined in the first halves of their two playoff games combined.

Bulls & Bears maintained their double digit edge for awhile in the 2nd half, though Mo's had a pair of runs in them that drew them within 6 points. Stultz's 18 points in the second half fueled those runs, but B&B was able to respond thanks to 11 second-half points from Patrick Schoettler (20 points overall) and strong rebounding from Paul Demke. Mo's won the half 29-27, but Bulls & Bears held on for the victory.