Panthers survive in a wire-to-wire thriller

New York, NY — What a fantastic finish, it’s really a shame one of these teams had to lose, this one was completely up for grabs. It wasn’t the prettiest final we’ve ever seen, but it certainly was one of the most entertaining. Let’s start with Supreme Team (G) Jeff Syham‘s sheer offensive dominance in the 1st qtr. The rookie PG was unstoppable, and he was tuned in all night.

But Syham also had to defend the Sex Panthers’ best player (G) David Chu, which eventually meant tired legs. But with solid pick & roll D from his teammates, Syham helped limit Chu to just 5 pts on 2-17 FGs. But whereas past performances like this might have derailed the Panthers, Chu didn’t lose his composure. He deferred to teammates, namely (F) Chris Di, who dominated just as much as SUP’s Syham in the 1st half.

Di was unstoppable in the paint, finishing left hand, right hand, left hand, putting SUP’s best interior defender (F) Joseph Choi in foul trouble. He would eventually foul him out. Which is where SUP missed (C) Max Choi, out due to a broken nose suffered in Sunday’s semifinal game. They needed his depth on the back line. When SUP had to overplay to help on Di, it left SXP (G) Greg Loeffert free to create and knockdown some huge momentum 3FGs.

Nevertheless, the Panthers never quite got over the hump, and Supreme Team never could get full control of it either. Up one in the final seconds, SUP (G) Brian Kim blocked a David Chu reverse layup and the ball eventually went to SUP (G) Ryan Kim for free throws. Kim had a chance to put his team up 3 with two makes. He missed both.

Now with :11.4 sec remaining SXP called time-out for their final offensive play. They got the ball into Loeffert who danced around his defender to the FT line, he came to a jump stop looking to pass, but no one immediately opened up. His defender jumped away to disrupt a passing lane to Chu, so Loeffert took a wide open 15 footer, missed it. In the scramble, SXP (F) Tom Bello, Jr. ended up with the ball and put it up right away, banking it in to go up 49-48 with :01.8 sec left. 

SUP used their final time-out. Syham drew up a play that they ran nearly to perfection. Syham faked a jump out to get the ball then looped backdoor toward the goal wide open, Kim threw a lob that might have been just a bit long, but Syham caught the ball in mid-air with a great look and put up a shot fading back. It fell just short. The Panthers secured the rebound, survived, and finally after two seasons, claimed this well-earned 2nd Division title.