Intramural Championship coverage

Steven M Miller Jr, Staff Writer

The Comment checks in with todays post with last Sunday's Intramural Championship weekend. Here are the highlights from the mens competative and recreation divisions, and the womens recreation division...


Men's Competative Intramural Basketball Champions:
(#2 seed) The Phenoms- 60 (#2 seed) Piledrivers- 69

For the fourth consecutive year, the Piledrivers played like champions and earned the right to play in the championship game. This senior squad led by senior center Derek Thompson, sophomore guard Jessie Texeira, and a supporting cast that is likely to graduate in May and later this winter.

Their opponents, The Phenoms, are another squad of seniors that were led by senior guard Ben Bonzey, senior guard Ryan "The Birdman" Devereaux, and senior guard Mike Dalton.

"It was great to go out on a win and to play against some good friends in a friendly situation," said Piledrivers guard John Dowaliby.

The score at the half was 39-30, but the Piledrivers remained in control the entire game. At one point the Piledrivers were up by 15 with five minutes remaining in the game and The Phenom's did the best they could to muster up a rally.

"I thought both teams played well," said Phenom captain Anthony Palladino. "They were clearly the better team and it was a tough matchup for us."

The Piledrivers were paced by an offensive attack led by Thompson in the post and Texiera along the perimeter. Texeira led all scorers with 26 points (18 in the first half) and Thomson finished the game with 14 points.

The Phenoms had a balanced attack as Bonzey scored 16, Devereaux scored 15, and Dalton scored 14 points.

Palladino said that he was sad to see such a run end with The Phenoms loosing.

"The Phenom dynasty has ended after 4 years of greatness," declared Palladino. "We made the finals or the finals in all four years. We won the championship as freshman. I was proud to captain a great group of guys."

Thompson said that he was happy about the game and everything that they had accomplished the last four years. The Piledrivers made the championship game in all four years that they played in the competitive division.

"The game was really fun and I hate to loose in anything," said Thompson. "Two championships in a row are always fun. Since we lost the first two years we competed it felt great to win the last two."

Thompson also said that The Phenoms were a good opponent and that it was a really competitive basketball match.

"Its always facing a team like The Phenoms, because everyone is good friends with one another," said Thompson. "It just makes the game that much more competitive."

Both teams will leave Bridgewater State to graduation, but never forget the good times that both dynasties dominated the basketball court.



Men's Recreational Division Champions:
(#1 seeded) Topher's Team-59 (#4 seeded) Rafer-34

#4 seeded Rafter's Cinderella season ended with a 59-34 loss to #1 seeded Tophers Team. Rafter advanced to the final match after a three point shot buzzer beater that won the game by a point. The game ending, court erupting, 25 foot buzzer beater hit by senior Kenny Beltram.

But the magic ran out in the finals at the hands of Tohper's Team. With a 31-21 score at the half, Topher's Team scored 28 points in the second half and held Rafter to 13 points.

Leading the way for Topher's Team was senior Topher Paone led all scorers scoring 17 points and freshman Anthony Bourget had 13 points. Team Rafter had a balanced scoring attack with senior scoring Mike Lesniak's 11 points, senior Emeka Duku scoring 11 points, and Beltram scoring 10.



Women's Recreational Division Champions:
(#1 seeded) Annie's Little Helpers- 59 (#2 seeded) Free Agent Force- 35

In the four team Women's Rec Championship, the top two seeds made a championship appearance. With a close 30-22 game at the half, Annie's Little Helpers dropped 29 points in the second half and held Free Agent Force to 13 points.

Annie's Little Helpers were paced in the first half by junior Lisa Barros, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half. In the second half senior Stephanie Johnson was impressive, as she scored 12 points in the second half, which helped seal the deal for her team. Senior Megan King also chipped in with 11 points.

Leading the way for Free Agent Force was senior Jackie Thibault, who had 16 points. Freshman KJ Rich also scored 13 points on the game.


-Check out the interview with Assistant Director of Recreation Brian Fetky after this post.