2011 Champions Crowned

The Birdmen (in their third year of existence, first under their new name) raise their first championship banner in a Championship Game finally played after Hurricane Irene.


The Birdmen were able to overcome the long time league adage of "As goes Fanfan goes their team" this was not to be the case today as their leading scorer was held to 11. The unsung depth of the Birdmen carried the day lead by Playoff and Finals MVP Nikko Bryant who scored a team high 13 (most of which came in the last 2 minutes). They also got strong contributions from Jay Snow (11 points), John Dietel (7 points) and 5 each from Mike Geoffroy and Andy Maxwell. Captain Jeremy Bridge added 7 of his own. They were particularly good down the stretch scoring on their last 4 trips up the floor to close out the win. 


BOHICA who had 4 players play the entire 40 minutes and a 5th Brian Vayda play the final 16 after arriving- took the lead shortly into the second half and lead by as many as 5 before The Birdmen made a strong comeback lead by Bryant's heroics and their ability to make free throws. BOHICA was paced by Ryan Cain with 26 points, Justin Aldrich with 16 and Mitch Bajema with 12. The Iron Man peformance by Cain, Bajema, Aldrich and Scott Felper was necessitated by the absence of 4 BOHICA rotation members including mainstays Joey McCann and Mike Balderelli. BOHICA Captain Anthony Leonelli was quick to discount that however. "They made plays down the stretch- that's what champions do. You can't worry about whose here or isn't here, we played the game, they made the plays, they won a title- credit to them." 

The Birdmen are the 3rd champion in the league's 4 year history following BOHICA in 2008 and 2009 and Worcester West in 2010. Niko Bryant was awarded the playoff MVP as well as the Finals MVP.  Special notice goes to Jeremy Bridge and Eve St Cyr who have been teammates in the league all 4 years of it's existence and cash in their first championship. The Birdmen end the year at 9-2 BOHICA falls to 10-1. 


Birdmen: Bryant 13, Fanfan 11, Snow 11, Dietel 7, Bridge 7, Geoffrey 5, Maxwell 5, St Cyr 0


BOHICA: Cain 26, Aldrich 16, Bajema 12, Vayda 2, Felper 0, Leonelli 0 


Thanks to all the teams for a great season- despite hurricanes and some garbage weather along the way the 2011 season was a successful one across the board.  The league will return in 2012 with a new look as we will be going to divisional play  to generate more competitive games every week and there will be a few more new wrinkles on the horizon. 


Enjoy your offseason and if you're interested in playing in the fall or spring indoor leagues please send an email to 508athletics@gmail.com