Apologies for the delayed update. Last Wednesday, we traveled to Boston College for our quarterfinal matchup – only to have Off in the Woods not show up. It felt strange to advance to the semis without actually playing a game. That said, we had our hands full with our semifinal match up against Mike Short – the undefeated team that won the other division.

Going in to the game, we were a little nervous. Clearly, Mike Short had a great team – they had won every game they’d played in thus far. Luckily, while we were still a little rusty, the games that weren’t forfeited allowed us some time to gel (and we used the forfeited games as practice).

Mike Short got off to a great start, but we were able to pull the game even by halftime. As the second half started, though, they were on fire, jumping out to an 8 point lead. Their perimeter shooting was clutch, exposing our 2-3 zone. So we made the switch to man and settled in an offense. Slowly but surely, we mounted a comeback.

Still, the issue was in serious doubt as the game drew to a close. When we fouled them with 10 seconds left, we sent them to the line up by 1. Luckily, they only hit 1 shot, and we were able to ge the ball upcourt and called timeout with 8.3 seconds to play.

The inbounds saw a series of passes and a great shot fake by Steve Roszak, who used the fake to get the ball to Shane Delmore in the post. He went up strong, making the shot and drawing a foul with 3 seconds left – but then missed the free throw, sending the game to OT.

Luckily, we put it away in OT, making a quick three and playing solid defense. We ended up winning 47-40 after a spirited effort (and multiple time-saving fouls) by Mike Short. They really played a great game, and we were very lucky to come out with the victory.

So, now, only the finals remain, tomorrow at 8 pm at Boston College. Go Athleague!

Boston College’s spring break allowed for a nice break in the season, but the last couple games have been awful – because the other team didn’t show up. In all fairness, we understand that this happens – life and school can be crazy, and sometimes you just can’t make a game.

Unfortunately, we won our last two games – against The Tyndall Effect and Dopeboyz – by forfeit. The upside is that we’re sitting well for the playoffs at 3-1, and we actually got some good pickup games in at the gym. But it really sucks – we enjoy making the hike up to BC from downtown Boston, and it’s a bit of a letdown to not actually have a game when we get there.

But we take this personally – this is the exact kind of problem that Athleague should be solving. It should be easy to let the refs and other team know that you’re not going to show up, so that everyone else isn’t inconvenienced. So we’ll take the undeserved wins and get to work on building a more intuitive model of reporting forfeits pre-game. We’ll keep everyone posted about the best way to do this, and if you have feedback or advice for us, we’d love to hear it. Basically, we want to make super easy for refs and captains to track projected attendance, and will be incorporating things like one-click RSVPS, more integrated email reminders, and others.

We’re up against Peyton Manthing and Test Icicles on Thursday and Sunday, so expect more updates soon. Time to make that playoff push!