Nashville Fugitives vs Philadelphia Row
The script for this series had seemingly been flipped since the playoffs began. The Fugitives had responded to criticism by sweeping the Chargers, albeit in a rather close series, and while the Row had also advanced with a sweep, they struggled a bit against a rather pedestrian Records team. That said, Philly was still clearly the better team, and showed it with a 161-117 victory, dominated by F/K Ray Thomas in particular, who scored 34 of those points and was even more dominant in the crease, making 23 saves and only allowing 6 balls by him. In Game 2, Nashville tried to slow the pace, and while they were able to stunt the Row’s offense, holding them to 136 points, it also limited them to just 90. Thomas made another 19 saves, while W/ZB Zebedeo Perilla led the way with 38 points contributed.
With Trashville behind them in Game 3, the Fugues got off to a much better start. They still weren’t completely able to solve Philly’s defense, but their offense was keeping them in the game and they were hanging on at the half, only down by 11. Unfortunately, that was the way the whole game seemed to be going - Nashville was performing well, but the Row always seemed just out of reach, and after Ray Thomas and B/ZB Kenton Snowberger led Philly on a 16-3 run in the second, the game was just about over. The Row picked the pace back up in Game 4, and took out the trash with a 67-point win, sending them back to the NDLCS.
Chicago Frost vs Texas Redbacks
Game 1 of this series stood in stark contrast to the last four games Texas had played. While the Backs spent a week dismantling the entire Seattle organization, they managed just 127 points against the Frost. While they still got a win, and fairly convincingly, Chicago was able to slow things down enough to keep things relatively close. Texas’s offense picked things back up a bit in Game 2, with B/K Semarias Garcia contributing on 39 of his team’s 154 points, and while the Frost struggled a bit to keep up, there was hope that they might be able to put something together on their home court.
That hope seemed unfounded in Game 3, which seemed like almost a carbon copy of Game 2, and the score reflected this. The only difference was that W/ZB Larry Whitt led the team in points contributed with 41, one of the rare times that anyone was able to beat out Garcia. Regardless, Texas jumped out to yet another 3-0 lead, looking to finish off Chicago in what would be the sixth sweep of these playoffs. The Flakes weren’t about to go down without a fight, though. They were able to slow the pace back down, and combined with getting hot at the right times, were able to match the Redbacks. With the game tied, the Frost had the ball looking for the final shot. After trying and failing to get the ball inside, the ball eventually made its way back to B/ZB Tony Bennett, who launched a jump shot from well outside the 5-point line. After what seemed like an eternity, the shot fell, sending the series back to Dallas. Unfortunately, Chicago could only delay the inevitable for so long, as the Texas offense picked up where it left off, returning to vie for yet another championship.
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