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Blue Roos Bounce Back and Force Game 7 in Holding Off Heartbreakers
The Blue Roos were a somber and focused bunch heading into Game #6. After destroying the Heartbreakers in Game #4 they were flying high, but came crashing down to earth the following week in Game #5 as if they had chugged too many sports drinks and were in the post-sugar coma phase, unable to generate enough momentum to take the series lead. They knew they had to take both Games #6 and #7 to win the title.
This week saw only a couple of changes as Moreen Logsdon took over umpire duties as her sister Christine Peever returned to Oz. She was in no shape to play anyway, as the physical toll of having knocked over Alan Denton the prior week left her drained of all energy. Taking her place in the lineup was Ankit Patel, having been recently recalled from minor league affiliate Georgia Tech.
Right out of the gate, the Blue Roos went to to their strength with Tai Logsdon showing smarts in her passes from the wing attack position, setting up Neil Desai and Alan Denton for the first baskets of the game. Not to be outdone, star goal attack Dee Patel responded with buckets of her own, trimming the lead at the end of the first period to a single goal. In a strange twist of irony, the first quarter score was again 4-3, the third time in four games, as if the netball gods had dictated "Thou must achieve a score of 4-3 only".
The second quarter saw the court tipped in favor of the Blue Roos as they extended their lead, with stellar play of Pritesh Patel through center helping feed his scorers a steady diet of passes close to the basket. At the other end of the court two great matchups were going on, with the defensive tandem of Rachel Charlize and Bina Patel able to keep Dee Patel and Nicia Behary to only two baskets. With umpire Logsdon clearly favoring the Blue Roos, they were able to extend their lead to 10-5 at the half.
The Heartbreakers, desperate to get back in the game resorted to sneaky tactics, holding off donning their player positions until the last possible moment, hoping to gain a mismatch. Jai "Spark" Patel moved to the wing attack position and he and center Rahul Patel found a lot of space coming through center and looked for Jeff Persson who moved up to goal attack for the height advangage. That combination was able to create four baskets including Nicia Behary extending her goal scoring streak. Unfortunately, the Blue Roos were only toying with the Heartbreakers: apparently they were just sandbagging most of the quarter, saving their strength for the final frame. Bina Patel starred in the quarter, playing inspired defense and using her guiles to convince the gullible umpire into a couple of questionable calls, enabling her team to recapture the momentum as they scored the final two baskets of the quarter to keep the quarter score level and maintain their five goal lead at 14-9.
After the Heartbreakers slipped the umpire a couple of drink coupons, the fourth quarter was a different game. With martial arts expert Ankit Patel using his karate-like moves to keep Alan "Scoring Machine" Denton at bay, and Jai "Spark" Patel countering the quickness of Pritesh Patel in the center, that left the key midcourt battle of Rahul Patel and Neil Desai. This reporter questioned taking Neil out of the scoring role he had been playing, but as fate would have it, that was a pivotal move.
The Heartbreakers starting chipping away at the lead, with Jeff Persson and Dee Patel showing some nifty passing skills to create easy baskets for each other. Their focus would not be broken, not even by on-court pirouettes from Rachel "Five Years of Ballet" Charlize (see the picture on Facebook for proof) who then resorted to unchecked physical violence to stop the scoring onslaught, and earning her the new moniker of "Bruiser II" and a tryout with the Nashville Rollergirls Roller Derby team. But some leads are just too great to overcome. With the Heartbreakers knocking on the door, Neil Desai sent a beauty of a pass in to his former position, now occupied by Tai Logsdon and Tai did not miss. Her basket stopped the comeback in its tracks, sealing the victory.
As the final horn sounded, the Blue Roos had forced a seventh and deciding game, having taken this match 17-14. They will look to carry the momentum of this victory into the final match while the Heartbreakers will need to decide how to stack their lineup to create a little more scoring. These two teams are so evenly matched, it is worth the price of admission just to see the chess game "battle of wits" inside the game.
The Winter Season concludes with the Championship on the line in a deciding Game #7. BUT - please note that the game has been moved to accomodate the TV and Radio coverage, so instead of next Sunday March 8, it will now be played in PRIME TIME on Friday March 13th 8 pm at Velocity Sports Performance in Murfreesboro. And yes, both teams are fully prepared for the carnage that will ensue. Bring your black cat, your broken mirrors, all miscellaneous curses to help your team to victory. And for this game only, lycanthropes are being allowed in the building after moonrise. It will be a Friday the 13th to remember!
Score by Quarter
First Quarter: Blue Roos 4, Heartbreakers 3
Second Quarter: Blue Roos 10, Heartbreakers 5
Third Quarter: Blue Roos 14, Heartbreakers 9
Fourth Quarter: Blue Roos 17, Heartbreakers 14
Umpire: Moreen Logsdon
Injuries: None, despite the best efforts of Bruiser II
Photographs: Holly Baker
