‘The League’ crowns spring champion
“The League” just wrapped up another successful season. Following a long spring season, Team Truth and Finesse Game capped off the year with a hard-fought championship game and Team Truth walked away with the trophy last Thursday, May 24.
Finesse Game and Team Truth were two of the best teams in the league all season. Each team only suffered one loss coming into the championship game, which almost guaranteed a great game, and it was.
“This is exactly what I expected from the top two teams in the league,” said league commissioner Steve Nivens. “They did what they were supposed to do, playing through the year with only one loss, and they made this championship game interesting.”
Finesse Game got off to a quick start jumping out to a 10-0 lead before Team Truth even knew what happened. Antonio Robinson of Team Truth kept them within striking distance early on until his team settled in.
“I thought Team Truth might not have had the legs for this game because they went to double overtime on Tuesday so it looked like they needed more rest,” he continued. “But Team Truth is a good team that has been playing together for a while so I knew that team spirit was going to kick in and they wouldn’t give up.”
After the initial barrage from Finesse Game, Team Truth began to chip away at the double digit lead. By the end of the first half, Team Truth had come all the way back to take a 43-41 lead at the break.
The beginning of the second half was a continuation of the late stages of the first half. Finesse Game attempted to mount a comeback early on, but Team Truth held on with clutch shooting throughout the second half.
“We were frustrated because we were not able to execute but they were shooting really well and I was glad we were able to weather that storm,” said Wesley Hsu of Team Truth.
Every time Finesse Game went on a run to get back into the game, Team Truth hit a crucial basket to stop the momentum. Robinson and Joe Thompson of Team Truth carried the scoring load in the second half to put the game away.
“Antonio Robinson is a great player and he made some really clutch baskets for us when we weren’t playing very well,” said Hsu.
Hsu went on to thank Nivens and the Josh Howard Foundation for their commitment to the community of Winston-Salem.
“Steve Nivens and Josh Howard do so much for the community and they have been like big brothers to me and a bunch of us since we were little kids,” he said. “They are incredible guys and it was an honor to play in their tournament. It was a lot of fun and we plan on coming back to defend our title during the summer league.”
Nivens stated he was glad to see how the league progressed from what he saw last year. He says the level of competition has continued to grow and is really looking forward to the summer league, which begins Monday, June 4.
“I know the teams that played in our spring league are beefing up for the summer time because they know what to expect,” Nivens said. “This is exciting, and I am ready for the summer, and I can’t wait to see how the new teams finish against these veteran teams.”
Robinson led Team Truth with 28 points followed by Thompson with 22. Finesse Game was led by Chris Young with 27 points and Rob Colon chipped in with 17.
