Seventeen teams came out for the Intramural Department’s recent 5 on 5 Basketball League. All in all, approximately 150 students, alumni, and staff came out to showcase their basketball talent.
All teams made it to the playoffs, however, there can only be two contenders for the finals and despite efforts demonstrated by everyone, the following teams were the ones that managed to make it to the finals to compete for the coveted Championship T-Shirt.
Women’s League
Representing the Away team in the championship game was team Cookies N’ Cream captained by Elisa Badue. Facing off against them was the home team, and last year’s champion, Four-Peat captained by Audrey Sullivan.
For the first half of the game, the score was close. However, in the second half Badue scored 12 points and teammate Teddi Reese added her own 11 points, Sarah Cox contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds and for further help on the boards was teammate Lindsey Kaufman with 8 rebounds.
Despite efforts by Cookies N’ Cream, Four-Peat held on to their championship form. With a final score of 53-37, they secured their place in Intramural history. Captain Sullivan provided much needed leadership by contributing 10 points and 9 rebounds and a steal and assist. Coming to her aid was the much needed points by teammates Hannah Flores (13 points), Olivia Shropshire (11 points), and Melissa Butler (8 points and 8 rebounds).
Men’s Recreational
After the Women’s championship warmed up the crowd, the Men’s Recreational Championship kept them in their seats.
Posed against each other were the Big Red! Badgers captained by Nick Mattox, and the Buffalo Riders captained by Kyle Anthony. Despite low scoring, the game was highly intense.
Travis Sherman of the Big Red! Badgers bared the bulk of the scoring with 10 points and he also grabbed 6 boards. He wouldn’t have to do it all though; Matt Shaw helped by scoring 7 points of his own and an additional 5 rebounds while Gavin Boen scored 6 points and 5 more rebounds.
Despite the effort by Mattox’s team, the organization and diligence of the Buffalo Riders, proved to be superior.
While Anthony only contributed 5 points, his teammate Justin White would take the spotlight. In an outstanding performance, White led the team with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals and assists apiece. Aiding White’s all-star performance, teammate Bret Rediger chipped in 7 more points while Travis Ruhlen helped with 5 rebounds of his own.
At the end of the game, Buffalo Riders claimed the T-Shirt with a 35-28 victory over their worthy advisory the Big Red! Badgers.
Men’s Competitive Championship
The entire league culminates in this final and greatly awaited game, the Men’s Competitive Championship. With expectations high, spectators and players alike looked on in anticipation to see who would take home the title.
The Mighty Ducks were captained by Aaron Kinnes and was comprised mostly of teammates who were champions in the Spring of 2013.
Their opponents were the Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins who had this season’s best winning record and were captained by Blake Purnell.
In keeping with the pace of the previous two games, these teams kept the battle close throughout the entire running clock.
The Mighty Ducks received considerable help from their captain, Kinnes, who provided a much needed 14 points, 2 steals and 2 assists.
Helping him out in scoring was Daniel Fredrickson and Jake Mauermann who each contributed 8 points. In addition to this, Kaden Danielson led the team in rebounding grabbing 7 boards.
Despite the great collective effort, the Mighty Ducks lost to the skill of the Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins.
Captain Purnell carried the team on his shoulders scoring a game high of 20 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. The rest of the team followed his example: Josh Burgeson assisted in the win by grabbing 9 rebounds and 9 points. Taylor Wilkins contributed 6 boards of his own.
With each member of the team contributing, Purnell’s team pulled off a 54 to 46 win, and thus came the conclusion of yet another year of Intramural 5 on 5 Basketball.