San Francisco Gay Basketball Association

by Chuck Martin

Thursday, July 15, 2010 – San Francisco CA – The spring 2010 incarnation of the Castro Basketball League (CBL) saw two exciting games to finish its season, one that went overtime. Gay Fish, who came into the playoffs with a 3-6 regular-season record, hoped for a second consecutive upset win, and almost pulled it off by hitting a clutch shot at the buzzer to sent their A Division championship game with league-leading High Top (& Bottoms) into overtime. And Mack Attack led early and almost came back late in the B Division championship game against City Swishers.

Mack Attack drew first blood in their hotly contested game against regular-season winner City Swishers, going up 7-4 in the early minutes. But then they stalled, aided by a stepped-up Swisher defense, and did not score again until less than 2 minutes remained in the half. Swishers, meanwhile, found their offensive rhythm and finished the half with a three, taking them into the break with an 18-10 lead. City Swishers were just slightly better in the early going of the second half, running the lead up to double digits. Mack Attack responded late in the half by ramping up defensive pressure, swarming whoever had the ball and forcing turnovers. But they also committed some fouls with that defense, and Swishers were able to make their foul shots, as well as break the pressure enough to score some key baskets, and the City Swishers held on at the end to take the B Division championship 36-29.

High Tops (& Bottoms) took the season series against Gay Fish 3 games to none. But it was Gay Fish who uncapped their A Division championship game against regular-season winner High Tops (& Bottoms) by scoring 2 fouls shots, the only points in the first 3:30, when they doubled up with an inside layup, and then made it 6-0 by the 5-minute mark before High Tops (& Bottoms) got on the board with a three.The defensive-minded game progressed to 10-5 Gay Fish at the 10-minute mark. A basket and a three over the next 60 seconds by High Tops (& Bottoms) cut the Gay Fish lead to 12-10. High Tops &( Bottoms) took it;’s first least of the game with 5:20 left in the half by hitting two foul shots to make it 15-13. It was a lead they never relinquished during the half, and in fact extended it by the end to 22-18.

High Tops (& Bottoms) uncorked the second half scoring with a three just 30 seconds in. Gay Fish hit 3 of the next 4 baskets, including a three of their own, to tie it up at 27-27 at the 3:30 mark. High Tops (& Bottoms) hit a midrange baseline jumper to take the score to 29-27 mark 5 minutes in. High Tops (& Bottoms) they went on a 6-2 during the next 1:30 to take a 35-29 lead before Gay Fish called a timeout with 11:40 left. The Fish hit a couple of shots coming out of the timeout to cut into the lead, but then fouled High Tops on a layup, enabling them to extend the gap back to 38-33 with 9:00 to go. The two teams basically traded baskets over the next few minutes until High Tops fouled the Fish on a drive just before the 5 minute mark, and the Fish made one of tow to trim the Tops lead to 42-37. The Fish got the rebound on the second shot, but turned the ball over, giving High Tops the chance to extend their lead to 44-37 with 4:30 left. The Fish hit an inside shot with 4:10 let to make it 44-39. High Tops worked some time off the 35-second shot clock, but could not convert. The Fish missed 3 shots on their possession, and High Tops again worked the shot clock, but again missed. Gay Fish got possession back with 2:20 remaining and converted quickly, making it 44-41 with 2:10 left. Fish got a steal, but while driving the ball down the court quickly, turned the ball over and fouled to get the ball back, sending High Tops to the line for a one-and-one with 1:45 left. The Tops missed the first and the Fish got the rebound. But they turned the ball over yet again, and they fouled again, this time with 1:26 to go, not yet in the double bonus. High Tops made both to extend the lead to 46-41, and then the Fish fouled on the shot, sending High Tops to the line again. They made both again, pushing the lead to 48-41. The Fish made a quick shot with 1:15 left, and then stole the ball to get another attempt with 1:03 left and the score 48-43. They hit a three with 55 seconds left to make it 48-46.. High Tops got the ball into the frontcourt and worked more time off the clock, holding a slim 2-point lead. They missed a three with time expiring, and Gay Fish got the rebound and called a timeout in their frontcourt with 7.8 seconds left. Gay Fish got the ball in and got a three off with 3 seconds left, and then was fouled on the rebound. They still weren’t in the bonus, so they had to get the ball in from out of bounds. They got the ball in again, and hit a baseline shot at the buzzer to tie the game up and send it to overtime.

Unfortunately, Gay Fish got as much scoring in the 3-minute overtime as Matt Cain typically gets in run support from the Giants. High Tops got the first possession of overtime, but turned the ball over trying to work it inside. Gay Fish couldn’t covert their first possession, and High Tops got a quick basket in transition to go up 50-48. Gay Fish again missed on their try, and High Tops brought the ball up leading by 2 with 1:15 left. They took a three, missed, but got the rebound, missing on the subsequent drive. The Fish got that rebound, but were again unable to convert, and when High Tops got the rebound, Fish had to foul with 20.4 left. High Tops made one of two to go up 51-48, and then their defense poked the ball away, and the Fish fouled on the scramble with 10.6 left. High Tops made one of two to go up by 4 and it was done. High Tops took the A Division championship after the Fish missed one last three, then fouled on the rebound, allowing High Tops and Bottoms to push the final lead to 53-48.

View the entire league game results here.

by Chuck Martin

Monday, July 12, 2010 – San Francisco CA – Last Thursday was the appetizer, a single first-round playoff game that saw High Tops (& Bottoms) edge Passion Posse for a trip to the A Division final. Tonight was the main course: six teams in action, only three earning the right to go on to the delectable dessert, the league championship games. And two of the main course games turned out to be tremendously exciting, tense, taut affairs that went right down to the wire. In the only A Division game of the night, Gay Fish trailed for all but 37 minutes and 30 seconds, but led when it counted most, when the game clock read 00:00, edging Team Jacob 42-41. While it can be said that Mack Attack led most of the way in its B Division game against Defenders, the leads were never large, and it was only some late defensive brilliance that led to a 41-35 win. In the final B Division game, City Swishers overcame a sputtering start to dominate Moonlanding and win 44-25.

Mack Attack and Defenders both finished the season 4-5, and both wanted to win to get the opportunity to take on the division juggernaut that is City Swishers. Mack Attack opened its playoff push with a 7-0 run in the first couple of minutes of its first-round game against the Defenders. Defenders returned the favor, responding with a 7-0 run of their of their own, and then Mack Attack hit again just before the five-minutes-in mark to retake the lead at that point, 9-7. Defenders came back to hit two quick buckets, and Mack Attach hit an inside jumper to make it 11-11 with 12:15 left in the first half. It was becoming a back-and-forth game, and with 10 minutes left, Mack Attack held the barest of edges, 14-13. However, at about 9 minutes left, the game stalled at 16-16, and remained there until Defenders hit with an off-balance 18-footer with 4 minutes left, a five-minute stretch of scorelessness. Mack Attack scored the last 5 points of the half to take a 21-18 lead into the break.

The second half started as a mirror image of the first: Defenders scored in an early run, theirs 6-0 to go up 24-21. Mack Attack hit the next bucket though, and then tied the game up at 26-26 at the 5-minute mark, and then went on a 7-0 run over the next 1:30 to take a 33-26 lead with 13:30 left. Mack Attack extended the lead to 12 points with 7 minutes left. Defenders made a late push, closing the gap to 38-33 with 2:45 left, due in part to going to a man-to-man defense and creating Mack Attack turnovers. Defenders scored again with 1:30 left to trim the lead to 38-35. Defenders tried to trap, but fouled, sending Mack Attack to the line. They missed the front half and Defenders got the rebound, but turned the ball over themselves with 1:10 left. Defenders had to foul, putting Mack Attack on the line with 1:00 left and a one-and-one. Mack Attack missed the front end again and Defenders got the rebound and brought the ball down court. But they turned the ball over again with 40 seconds left, and Defenders had to foul. Mack Attack was in the double bonus, yet they hit neither of their shots. Defenders took a timeout with 35.5 seconds left, basically giving them last possession with the shot clock virtually off, down by 3. Mack Attack stole the ball in the front court and took it in for a layup to make it 40-35 with 30 seconds left, then got the ball back again and was fouled. They missed both again, Defenders brought the ball down quickly and took a three, but missed. Mack Attack grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled with 12.7 seconds left. This time–finally–they made one (of two), and won 41-35 to go on to the finals.

Team Jacob and Gay Fish came into their first-round game with opposite records, 6-3 vs. 3-6. Both Gay Fish and Team Jacob hit quick inside shots and three pointers early in their first-round playoff matchup. Even so, defense ruled early, as Team Jacob was the only team to hit another shot in the first 5 minutes, to lead 7-5 at that point. Over the next 5 minutes, the only points Gay Fish could scored was from 2 foul shots, and Team Jacob had more than matched that to lead 12-7 at the 10-minute mark. Scoring then came to a screeching halt, the defenses really taking hold, until Team Jacob hit a foul shot with 4:30 left to make it 13-7. Gay Fish finally responded with a a basket of their own with just over 2 minutes left, after a more-than 8 minute drought of their own, to make it 13-9. The two teams traded scoring to leave Team Jacob leading 17-13 at the break.

Team Jacob opened the second half the same way hey opened the first, with a quick jumper and a three, to take a quick 22-13 lead. Gay Fish responded with a couple of baskets of their own to cut the lead to 22-17, but a nice putback by Team Jacob extended the lead yet again. Gay Fish hit their own three to make it 24-20 on their next possession. Really, though, it was Team Jacob;s rebounding, especially their offensive rebounding, that was keeping them in the lead. They hit one more basket by the 5-minute mark to lead 26-20 at that point, Gay Fish had edged it back up to 26-23 with 11 minutes to go when a key event happened: they committed their 7th foul, putting Team Jacob in the bonus. Team Jacob made both foul shots to push it back to 28-23, yet Gay Fish hit back quickly at the 10-minute mark to make it 28-25. Team Jacob continued to be aggressive inside, drawing a foul again with 9 minutes left, making the first, missing the second, getting the rebound, and making a layup to take a 31-25 lead with just over 8 minutes left. With 5 minutes left, nothing had changed. The lead was still 5, the scores were just a bit higher, 35-30. Gay Fish hit a layup and was fouled with 4:20 left, and made the free throw to cit the lead to 35-33. Team Jacob missed, and Gay Fish hit a layup and was fouled again. This time, they missed the free throw, leaving the game knotted at 35-35. They were able to secure the rebound, giving them another possession, where they hit a three, to give them their first lead of the game, 38-35, with 2:30 to go. Team Jacob hit their own three with 2:00 left to tie it back up. Gay Fish drove for another layup, made it, and was fouled again. Again, they missed the foul shot. Team Jacob got the rebound, but then turned the ball over. Gay Fish turned it right back over, giving Team Jacob the ball trailing by 2 with 1:30 left. They missed a three and Gay Fish got the rebound. They were fouled, but missed, leaving Team Jacob with the ball and 65 ticks on the clock, still trailing. They took another three, but was short, and got the rebound and was fouled. Being in the double bonus, they had two shots, but missed the first and made the second. Gay Fish turned the ball over with 18 seconds left and Team Jacob drove for a layup with 10.2 left to take the lead back 41-40. Gay Fish brought the ball up from the end line against a press by Team Jacob, and got an out-of-bounds with 4.9 left. They were fouled on the ensuing play, sending them to the line for a one-and-one with 3.8 left, making both to take the lead back 42-41, and Team Jacob could not get a final shot off, leaving Gay Fish, at 3-6, the upset winner going to the finals.

B Division-leading City Swishers got a slow start in its face off against Moonlanding, who was looking to be the second 3-6 team of the night to pull a playoff upset. But it wasn’t long before City Swishers asserted themselves, especially on defense. And it was that defense that trumped even an offense that finally clicked, holding Moonlanding to a single-digit first half, while more than doubling up that total to take a 20-8 lead into halftime. The Moonlanding offense finally got on track in the second half, but City Swishers were still better, winning the half 24-17 and the game 44-25.

The final games of the season are this Thursday, July 15. First up, at 7:30pm, the B Division championship pitting City Swishers and Mack Attack. Then, at 8:45pm, the A Division championship, with Gay Fish taking on High Tops (& Bottoms). All games are on the Mark Bingham court at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood (behind Delano’s IGA), and are free for the public to view. And view the league schedule and game results here.

The only playoff games of the night proved to better match than expected.

The #1 seed in the “A” division, Hi Tops (& Bottoms) had defeated the #4 seeded Passion Posse two of the three times they met during the regular season.

However, HT&B would be missing one of their top players, Mike O’Connor, so the potential of an upset was more than a small likelihood as the Posse got out to a quick 5-0 lead.

However, HT&B would score the next twelve points, taking a 12-5 lead midway through the game, sparked by the play of Brian Cordero and capped by threes from Justin Volk and Jesse Woodward.

When the Posse went to a zone, turnovers plagued HT&B over the last ten minutes of the first half as Joshua Jones and Bam Bam leaked out for uncontested layup after uncontested layup.

After halftime, an unexpected push for Passion Posse came from 6-4 center Lish Ndhlovu, who fearlessly attacked the basket on offense and defended his basket.

Throughout the second half, Lish couldn’t miss; hitting his first five attempts at the basket. On the other side, Ndhlovu was swatting shots out of midair.

The teams would tussle back and forth with no team able to gain a solid foothold.

With around 45 seconds remaining and HT&B leading by two. Tom Nagashima would hit a crucial three to give the Passion Posse the lead, 37-36 with under a minute to go.

Justin Volk brought up the ball to set up the offense.

With under 15 seconds on the clock, the ball found its way to Jordan in the corner.

Jordan drove the baseline strong, but fumbled the ball as he made his move to the basket.

At the last second, he dumped the ball off to his male lover Jesse who was cutting down the middle.

Jesse was fouled as attempted to go up for the shot.

Jesse calmly sank his first free-throw, a high-archer that settled through the net and tied the game at 37.

His second free-throw would miss, but Francis fought his way around Lish for a strong two-handed rebound. Under the basket, Francis would gather himself under the hoop for the putback… and one. 39-37 Hi-Tops (& Bottoms).

Francis’ free-throw would give HT&B a 3-point cushion with 8 seconds remaining.

Passion Posse would pass the ball around on the last play before eventually getting the ball to Paul Walsh for a good look at a three. Unfortunately for the Posse, as with their entire season, they would come up short in the end.

Hi-Tops (& Bottoms) used a balanced attack. Neil Sullivan scored 11 points. Brian Cordero and Jesse Woodward each added 7 points. While Jordan Lampenfeld had 10 rebounds.

Lish would finish the game with a season-high 14 points and 4 blocks, while adding 6 rebounds. Bam Bam had 11 points, and Joshua jones added 5 points, 6 steals and 4 rebounds.

The Hi-Tops & Bottoms will be in the “A” Division Finals next week, Thursday, July 15th, 2010.

Their opponents in that game, as well as the teams competing in the “B” Finals will be determined this coming MONDAY, Thursday July 12th at the Castro Gym.

Hi-Tops (& Bottoms) 40

Passion Posse 37

The 24th Castro League Playoffs begin tonight featuring the #1 seed Hi Tops (and Bottoms) taking on #4 seed Passion Posse at 7 pm. After the game, we’ll be holding our second annual Castro Fun Gayme which brings players from both divisions together for a casual match.  Stick around after the game and come to the Mix for a drink!

Tonight is also special in that the SFGBA will be featured in local literary magazine McSweeney’s:  Al Saracevic, the sports editor at the SF Chronicle is doing a piece on rec league basketball for McSweeney’s (of Dave Eggers fame) and will be roaming around interviewing players, coaches and the commissioners before and after the games – it will be a fun piece. For more info: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/

Don’t forget that the remaining playoff games are THIS Monday!

by Chuck Martin

Thursday, July 1, 2010 – San Francisco CA – The playoffs are set. Gay Fish (3-6) edged Passion Posse (2-7) 40-36 to avoid going against league leader High Tops (& Bottoms) in the first round of the A Division playoffs. Positioning in the B Division got all shaken up; Defenders (4-5) got over on Moonlanding (3-6) 43-33 and Mack Attack (4-5) fell to City Swishers (7-2) 46-32, allowing Defenders to leapfrog into second place after winning the season series against Mack Attack, 2 games to 1.

Defenders, in its attempt to move up in the standings for playoff positioning, began its game against Moonlanding with just 4 players. Yet they were first on the board, with a three less than a minute in. Fortunately, two minutes in, they got a fifth player showing up 2 minutes in, so they were able to field a full team, although Moonlanding still had two subs. Defenders still held the early edge 5 minutes in, after hitting another three, 7-2, taking advantage of a moribund Moonlanding offense. Then it was Moonlanding’s turn. Over the next 15 minutes, they exactly reversed the run, making it 9-9 halfway through the period. Thus began the dogfight. The teams traded, baskets, foul shots, making it 11-11, 13-13, each team responding to the other’s advances, until Defenders grabbed a 19-15 lead with a three at the 2:20 mark. Each team scored one basket in the remaining time to leave Defenders leading 21-17 at the break.

Defenders opened up the second half with a quick 5 points in the first minute and a half, extending their lead to 26-17. Moonlanding came back with an inside move, but Defenders hit a three to make it 29-19. The scoring by the two teams slowed a bit, with Defenders being a bit slower, allowing Moonlanding to catch up; with 10 minutes left, Defenders’ lead was cut to 33-27. The teams again went into a bit of a scoring slump, but with 5 minutes to go, Defenders was still holding on to its edge, now at 38-31. Moonlanding had the fight in them, they did, and they hit a quick basket to make it 38-33. Defenders hit right back; a bank shot with 4:15 to go made it 40-33. After a foul shot, Moonlanding missed, and Defenders hit on a nice inside fed to make it 43-33 with 3 minutes to go. Moonlanding couldn’t connect on several shots their next possession. Defenders took an open shot early in their possession. It missed, but Defenders was fortunate to get a long rebound, and Moonlanding went into foul mode with 1:30 left. Defenders missed the first of a one-and-one and Moonlanding pushed the ball down court quickly, but missed again, and had to foul again. Defenders again missed the front end, and Moonlanding was fouled on the rebound. They missed, got the rebound, and put up a three. That missed too, and Defenders recovered and ended up winning 43-33.

In the battle to see who would face A Division first-place High Tops (& Bottoms) in the first round of the playoffs, Gay Fish drew first blood, but it was Passion Posse, and its quickness, that led through the first 5 minutes, 8-2. The two teams basically traded baskets over the next few minutes, keeping up a frenetic pace, and with 10 minutes left, Passion Posse had a 13-8 edge. Gay Fish was as persistent as Passion Posse was quick, and they were not about to let the game get out of hand. Slowly, they worked to close the gap, although at the 5-minute mark, it was still 16-12. The final 5 minutes of the half were really sloppy, marred by turnover after turnover, but with the help of a three in the final minute, Passion Posse took a 21-15 lead into the break.

Gay Fish began the second half the same way the began the first, by scoring the first basket. The difference was that they scored the second and third baskets as well, knotting the score at 21-21 less than 4 minutes in. Passion Posse pushed the lead back to 26-23. Gay Fish had a chance to close the gap, but missed 4 consecutive free throws. The did get the rebound on the last miss, leaving Passion Posse with a 28-25 edge with 10 minutes to go. The two teams kept battling, turning up the defense even more, and by the time just 5 minutes remained in the game, Passion Posse led by just 1, 30-29. Gay Fish scored tow quick baskets right after that to take a 33-30 lead, and Passion Posse called a timeout with 4:24 left to regroup. Passion Posse found a gap on their next possession, and Gay Fish came right back with a score. Passion Posse hit a three to knot it at 35-35 with 3:20 left, and Gay Fish was fouled on a layup attempt immediately afterward. Gay Fish’s free throw woes continued, as they missed both. Yet Gay Fish was fouled on the rebound, giving them two more chances at the charity stripe, and they again missed, leaving the game tied with 2 minutes left. Gay Fish broke the stalemate seconds later to go up 37-35. Passion Posse called a timeout, and then turned the ball over on the inbound. Gay Fish missed two close attempts, giving Passion Posse a chance to tie it yet again. But the Posse missed, and Gay Fish began to milk the shot clock with less than a minute to go, then worked the ball in for a layup with 25 seconds left. Passion Posse was fouled on their subsequent drive, going to the line, making one, then getting the rebound on the second miss. With the score 39-36 and 15 seconds left, Passion Posse put up a three that was just short, and had to foul with 0.7 left. Gay Fish made one to take the game 40-36.

Mack Attack had to win its game against first-place City Swishers to finish the regular season in second place and with a record above .500. They opened the game well, their long-range shots dropping, and well on the way toward that goal. The Swishers, having clinched the top seed, did not want to limp into the playoffs, and fought back to take a 23-21 edge at the half. The second half was a different story. The Swishers made enough of a defensive adjustment to shut down Mack Attack’s long-range game and was able to match their first-half score while holding Mack Attack to just 11 second-half points on its way to a 46-32 win.

Next week sees just one playoff game, the A Division 1st place (High Tops (& Bottoms) vs. 4th place (Passion Posse) matchup. Following that game is the league Fun Gayme. The Fun Gayme began last year as a way to have A and B Division players on the same team. Rosters will have 5 players from each division and alternate every 5 minutes: first all 4 B players will play for both teams, then all A players will sub in and play, and so on, throughout the game. All games are on the Mark Bingham court at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood (behind Delano’s IGA), and are free for the public to view. And view the league schedule and game results here.

by Chuck Martin

Thursday, June 24, 2010 – San Francisco CA – The top A Division teams held serve in the penultimate week of Castro Basketball League (CBL) action, while the B Division leader skipped a beat, getting upset by the last place team. Team Jacob (6-3) wrapped up its season by edging Passion Posse (2-6) 56-53 to start the night, and then two ugly games, with a low scoring affair seeing Defenders (3-5) topping City Swishers (6-2) 34-32, and then High Tops (& Bottoms) (7-2) ending its season with a technical foul-marred game, beating Gay Fish (2-6) 42-30.

Team Jacob had nothing to play for but pride, having locked up the second seed in the playoffs. Passion Posse, came into the night tied for last with Gay Fish and looking to improve their playoff position. Passion Posse came out hitting, first a three, then a putback, to take a quick 5-0 lead. Team Jacob, not going quietly into the night, stepped up both its offense and its defense to tie the game at 7-7 after the first 5 minutes. Both teams then turned on the defense, yet Passion Posse was able to break through just a little bit more to take a 14-11 lead at the halfway point. The game began to turn into a running game as the teams flowed back and forth on the court, yet Passion Posse still held an edge, 22-20, with 5 minutes to go in the half. Team Jacob responded with 5 quick points to go up 25-22 at the 3;30 mark. Passion Posse came up with a block at the 20 second mark to get the last possession of the half and cut the deficit to 31-30.

The two teams traded baskets early, neither team really getting much of an edge before the other team responded in kind, and at the 10-minute mark, Team Jacob’s lead was exactly the same as it was ah halftime: 1 point, at 44-43. Passion Posse took the lead a short time later, and Team Jacob took it right back, keeping that 1-point lead at the 5-minute mark, 50-49. So it came down to who would hit late. Passion Posse made the first statement, working the ball in for a layup with 3:30 left to take the lead back at 51-50. Team Jacob got to the free throw line, but was called for a violation. Passion Posse was called for a foul on the other end, reacted, and was called for a technical foul. Team Jacob made 1 of 2 to tie it at 51-51, and then worked the ball in for a running layup with 1:30 left to take a 53-51 lead. Passion Posse drew a foul with 1:18 to go and made both knotting the score at 53-53. Team Jacob missed a long jumper, but Passion Posse turned the ball over trying to make a move. Team Jacob threw up an airball, and Passion Posse’s driving shot clanged off the back of the rim. Team Jacob snagged the rebound and called time out. They worked the ball in, but the shot rolled out, and then they got the rebound and put it back, getting fouled in the process, and taking a 55-53 lead with 2.2 seconds on the clock. They made the foul shot, and Passion Posse’s desperation halfcourt shot rattled and rolled around the rim before rolling out, preserving a Team Jacob 56-53 win.

With both teams having just 5 players, it wasn’t hard to expect that the B Division game between first-place City Swishers and last-place Defenders might be played at a bit of a slower pace, with all players needing to pace themselves for the full 40 minutes. The first half didn’t disappoint, as the score at the break was a mere 12-12. Defenders came out firing in the second half, making some tough shots against a tight Swisher defense, and with the dynamics of the game being what it was, the Swishers, although attempting to chip their way back into the game, were never able to make a push that would bring them back all the way, and it was only a made three-pointer with seconds left that made the final score of 34-32 as close as it was.

The evening ended with High Tops (& Bottoms), who wrapped up the top playoff seed a week earlier, facing a Gay Fish team looking to get a better playoff position of their own, especially after the other 2-5 team, Passion Posse, lost earlier in the evening. The first half was a defensive struggles with points very hard to come by–almost like a B Division game. With 5 minutes to go in the first half, High Tops (& Bottoms) held a slim 11-10 lead. The Tops suddenly broke out into an offensive onslaught, finishing the half on an 11-0 run to take a 22-10 lead into the break.

Gay Fish pushed hard to open the second half in an attempt to close the gap. And they did, a bit, to 28-19 in the first 5 minutes. Then both defenses really clamped down. Each team scored a whopping 1 point during the next 5 minutes, making it 29-20 with 10 minutes left. HIgh tops scored the next 5 quickly, first by getting 2 foul shots on a technical foul, and then a three, to push the lead to 34-20 with 8 minutes. to go. Gay Fish seemed to lose control, getting yet another technical foul called on them, and with 3:30 left, High Tops (& Bottoms) still maintained an 11-point edge at 36-25. They worked at milking the clock, and when Gay Fish got the ball, they pushed the ball up court quickly. They made a quick score, but then turned the ball over, leaving the score at 36-27 with 2:30 left. But Gay Fish was hit with another technical foul with 1:50 left, and High Tops hit one of the two, and then one of two “regular” foul shots to go up 38-27–and then got the rebound. Gay Fish went into foul mode with 1:33 left, but this time High Tops missed both. Gay Fish took the ball down court quickly and was fouled, making one of the two, and a scrum ensued. Gay Fish got a foul called in the melee, going to the line down 10 with 50 seconds left. They made one, and High Tops got the rebound and was fouled. They made both to push the lead to 40-29, but Gay Fish had too many players with too many fouls, and they were left with only 4 players. They were fouled on a drive, and made one of two. and High Tops turned the ball over. Gay Fish missed two threes, and High Tops was fouled again on the rebound with 22.5 seconds left, leading 40-30. High Tops made both for the final score of 42-30.

Next week wraps up the CBL regular season. The night’s first game sees the B Division basement dwellers playing for playoff seeding, with the loser getting the prize of facing the top seed to start their playoff run. Next is an A Division game with the same scenario. And finally, the two top B Division teams play what amounts to a playoff tuneup. However, there’s one additional potential twist in the B Division games, thanks to Defenders’ win this week. If Mack Attack loses and Moonlanding wins, both will finish at 4-5. Mack Attack won the season series 2-1, so they would get the tiebreaker and the #2 seed. But if Mack Attack loses and Defenders wins, again, both will finish at 4-5. But this time, Defenders won the head-to-head series against Mack Attack (2-1), which would bounce Defenders from finishing fourth to finishing second. (If Mack Attack wins, Moonlanding and Defenders merely play for straight-up playoff positioning.) All games are on the Mark Bingham court at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood (behind Delano’s IGA), and are free for the public to view. And view the league schedule and game results here.

by Chuck Martin

Thursday, June 17, 2010 – San Francisco CA – Two teams clinched top playoff seeds in Castro Basketball League (CBL) action tonight. High Tops (& Bottoms) (6-2) took advantage of a shorthanded (yet very energetic) Team Jacob (5-3) to win a close game, 50-40, and earn the A Division top spot. City Swishers (6-1) crushed Moonlanding (3-5) 40-26 to earn the B Division top spot. And in the night’s final game, Mack Attack (4-4) edged edged Defenders (2-5) 32-26 in a defensive struggle.

It’s the last thing you want: you’re playing for something (in this case, top seed in the playoffs), and you’re shorthanded. That’s the position Team Jacob found itself in tonight as they faced off against High Tops (& Bottoms), putting just 4 players on the floor to begin the game, this game that pitted two 5-2 teams. Even shorthanded, they managed to get on the board first, a three, and 3 minutes in, a fifth player finally arrived. It meant they didn’t have to play short and could leave fewer holes in their defense, but 5 players playing 40 minutes was going to be a long row to hoe. With a three 7 minutes in, High Tops (& Bottoms) took a 9-6 lead, yet early on, Team Jacob kept in the fight, first falling behind 14-9, and then running off 5 points to tie it 10 minutes in. Team Jacob continued to win the hustle battles, not only keeping them in the game, but giving them a 21-19 lead with 5 minutes left in the half. But helped by 2 threes in the last 5 minutes of the half, High Tops (& Bottoms) took a 29-23 lead into the break.

It was mostly High Tops (& Bottoms) to open the second half, although scoring wasn’t exactly falling through, but they did go on a 5-2 run during that span to extend the lead to 34-25, and with 10 minutes to go, the gap was the same, 39-30. The defenses then really kicked in, as the two team combined scored only 6 points over the next 5 minutes, All of them, however, were on Team Jacob threes, which cut the lead to 39-36. High Tops (& Bottoms responded by hitting free throws and a basket or two to take it bake to 45-40 with 1:30 left. At the 1:25 mark, Team Jacob was fouled, but they hit neither shot and High Tops (& Bottoms) got the rebound, whereupon Team Jacob went into fouling mode. High Tops (& Bottoms) hit enough of their fouls shots to take the win, 50-40.

The City Swishers needed just on win to wrap up the top seed in the B Division playoffs, and they took advantage of a Moonlanding team that simply could not get anything to drop early, running out to a 15-0 lead before Moonlanding finally was able to make its first basket. Moonlanding made up the gap somewhat late in the half, cutting the lead to 23-13 at the break. But unlike its previous two games, City Swishers didn’t wilt in the second half to make an exciting game. No, they took care of business and walk away with a convincing 40-26 win.

Mack Attack and Defenders began their game slowly and deliberately, each one seeking out an edge over the other, but with scoring hard to come by. The two teams traded two baskets early, but as late as 7:30 in, the score was just 4-4. Defenders finally found some offense later in the half, going up 13-8, but Mack Attack responded with 2 threes to take a 14-13 edge with a bit less than 5 minutes to play in the half. In those last 5 minutes, scoring once again disappeared; Mack Attack hit only one field goal and Defenders managed just one of two foul shots, to leave Mack Attack with a 16-14 edge at the break.

The dearth of scoring continued into the second half, as neither team could put the biscuit in the basket. At 5 minutes, in, the score was tied at 18-18. The next 5 minutes not only wasn’t an improvement, it got worse. Mack Attack scored one field goal and Defenders hit 3 free throws, making it 21-20. After a couple of threes, one by each team, the tension grew as the clock ticked past the 6:00 mark with Defenders holding the barest of margins, 26-25, yet Mack Attack still attacked with its specialty, and a minute later got a three to drop, taking the lead back at 28-26. With less the 3 minutes to go, Mack Attack attacked inside to take their biggest lead by any team, 30-26. Defenders missed on their next two possessions, and Mack Attack was fouled on a drive with 1:37 to go, but made neither. Defenders pushed the ball inside themselves, but was unable to convert, although they got fouled on a putback with 1:18 left. But they made neither of their free throws as well. Defenders had to begin fouling, sending Mack Attack finally to the free throw line with 1:02 remaining. They made 1 of 2 this time to stretch the lead to 31-26, and Defenders push the ball down court quickly. they were unable to convert, and fouled again with 45 seconds to go. Again, 1 of 2, for a 32-26 score, which was the final.

Next week sees the 4 A Division teams in action trying to prep for playoff runs, and a B Division game featuring Defenders trying to make a move in the standings. All games are on the Mark Bingham court at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood (behind Delano’s IGA), and are free for the public to view. And view the league schedule and game results here.

Note to all players, as well as spectators, especially those who drive to the Castro: The June 24 games occur during Frameline (the very popular LGBT film festival) at the Castro theater and Gay Pride week, so parking in the Castro will be very, very difficult. Plan ahead and arrive early.

by Chuck Martin

Thursday, June 10, 2010 – San Francisco CA – City Swishers snatched last-second victory from defeat to edge Mack Attack, and Passion Posse finally succeeded in holding a lead to get only their second win in Castro Basketball League (CBL) action tonight.

City Swishers played a near duplicate of its previous game against Defenders, this time facing a determined Mack Attack team that wanted to challenge the B Division leaders and close the gap in the standings. Swishers started strong, although the game was low-scoring early, but finishing the first half with a solid 19-14 lead. In the second half, however, they fell apart once again, allowing their opponent to close the gap.

This time, Mack Attack not only closed the gap, but took the lead late, largely on the strength of four straight  3-ponters from Randy Williams in the final couple of minutes, the last one banking in with just seconds to go. City Swishers called a timeout and was able to get the ball inside to Courtney Pope for an almost-miracle basket with just 2 seconds to go–and drawing a foul. They missed the shot but were able to score the rebound as time ran out and hold on to a win, 34-33.

City Swishers 34

Mack Attack 33

Gay Fish began its quest to catch the A Division leaders, a Herculean task being 2 1/2 games back going into play, by going up 8-0 on Passion Posse, who took more then 3 1/2 minutes to score their first point. But by the time they scored their next, on a free throw 9:30 in, it was 15-3; Passion Posse was just having trouble finding an offense. It wasn’t until there was just 4:30 left in the half that they made it to double digits in scoring, and by then, Gay Fish had run the lead to 21-10. And with the help of two threes in the last minute, Gay Fish had fully doubled up Passion Posse, who put one in as time was expiring, 30-15.

Passion Posse regained some of their passion to begin the second half, scoring 12 quick points in the first 5 minutes and cutting the lead to 36-27. And then it became a dogfight. Or a fish fight. At the 7:00 mark, Gay Fish still led, but by on 7, 39-33, and Passion Posse looking like it had the fire, especially when they hit a three seconds later to cut the gap to 39-36. Gay Fish was finding it as tough to find the hole as Passion Posse did in the first half. Finally, with 1:18 left in the game, on two foul shots, Passion Posse finally ties the game, at 40-40. Gay Fish came back and broke their own drought with a quick inside shot, and Passion Posse did the same to knot the game again at 42-42. Gay Fish grabbed a rebound and fought for a putback with 25 seconds to go to re-grab the lead at 44-42. Passion Posse drove and drew a foul with 14 seconds on the clock, making both to tie it up once again, 42-42. Gay Fish worked for a final shot and was fouled on the drive with 5.2 left. But they missed the front end of the one-and-one, and got lucky when the rebound ricocheted off of Passion Posse. With 3.9 ticks on the clock, Gay Fish inbounded, but was only able to get off a three that bounced off the front of the rim, sending the game to overtime.

Passion Posse grabbed the tip and worked a score to take its first lead of the game early in the overtime, 46-44. Gay Fish came right back to make it 46-46, and Gay Fish hit a three to go up 49-46. Gay Fish responded in kind, with 1:15 left, to make it 49-49. A miss by each team let Passion Posse have a shot and they hit, but early in the shot clock. Gay Fish had one more chance, but missed a three and two putbacks, and Passion Posse grabbed the final rebound to hold on to the 51-49 win.

Passion Posse 51

Gay Fish 49

The tilt between the two B Division basement teams began with Moonlanding breaking out to a 7-2 lead over Defenders in the first 5 minutes taking advantage of a Defenders team that just was not able to find its shooting range early. In fact, over the next 5 minutes, the only points that Defenders was able to get was by free throw, and by then Moonlanding had extended their lead to 14-6. Then it was Moonlanding’s turn to go dead, although Defenders wasn’t exactly burning up the offensive stat sheet in the void, trimming the lead to only 14-10 with 5 minutes left in the half. Defenders kept chipping away and managed to tie the game at 14-14 with 3 minutes to go. The tie seemed to wake Moonlanding up and they hit a couple of quick baskets to re-take the lead at 18-14, and two foul shots with 2.5 seconds left resulted in the 20-14 halftime score.

Defenders worked their way closer in the first 5 minutes of the second half cutting the lead to 22-19, but it wasn’t exactly pretty. Tenacious could be a good word, but not pretty. The shots still were not falling much for either team, and sloppy turnovers were prevalent. Over the next 5 minutes, only 7 points were scored. Total. By both teams combined, the score still with Moonlanding leading 27-21. Defenders tried to hang in, but a three with just over 8 minutes to go made it 32-25. The teams basically traded occasional baskets, and with 5 minutes to go, Moonlanding was still up, 36-28. Defenders hit a three with 2 minutes left to cut the lead to 36-32. Moonlanding scored off a rebound with 1:30 left to extend the lead back to 38-32, and hit another basket a few seconds later to basically seal the victory. Defenders was left only the option to foul, and although Moonlanding didn’t hit its first one on the first try, they were able to play keep-away long enough to take the 41-32 win.

The night’s results mean that High Tops (& Bottoms) and Team Jacob have clinched the top two playoff seeds in the A Division, so with 2 games left, it just remains to be seen who will get the #1 seed. The two teams face each other this coming week, and the winner will clinch the top seed because each has beaten the other once so far, so the winner of this game will have the head-to-head tiebreaker should the two teams finish tied. Meanwhile, City Swishers needs just one more win in its last 3 games to clinch top seed in the B Division, and its first test will be next week against a hungry Moonlanding team that’s tied for second with Mack Attack. Mack Attack is the only team that can overtake City Swishers because the best either team can do in W-L is tie, and Moonlanding has already lost to City Swishers twice, meaning they cannot win a head-to-head tiebreaker, but City Swishers and Mack Attack have split their first two games, so if Swishers falter in their next two games and Mack Attack wins its next one, the regular season finale, the last game of the last night pf play before the playoffs, will be for the #1 seed.

Next week starts with the two A Division leaders looking for the edge as the playoffs approach, followed by all four B Division teams jockeying for playoff positioning. All games are on the Mark Bingham court at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood (behind Delano’s IGA), and are free for the public to view. And view the league schedule and game results here.