As much as I hate to say it, the cluster basketball season is ending soon. The playoffs start Monday, and they will be as PACBL Commissioner Leon Modeste has arranged them. PKN and WQS each have a bye in the first round because they are the number one and two seeds. Abbot and FLG “B” will duke it out for a trip to the final four, as will WQN and FLG “A.” FLG “A” versus WQN: This will be a close one. It will be a question-and-answer type game between Staff’s Mike Sullivan ’08 and North’s Dylan Green ’06. The back-court match up comes down to Sullivan’s teammate Desmond Bonhomme-Isiah ’06 vs. WQN’s “Dish n’ Swish” Dave Mauskop ’07. North’s sharp-shooting bench (Shawn Xu ’07, Abhishek Sripad ’07) will make it hard for Staff to hold it down, but Staff has the mental coolness to bring this one home. FLG “B” versus Abbot: This is the one to watch, ladies and gentlemen. The backcourt matchup comes down to Matt Fernandez ’06 and Andrew Appolonia ’06 taking on Abbot’s Travis Wright ’08 and Ikechi Ngwangwa ’07, nicknamed The Messiah. The small forward match-up will is Flag’s three-point legend Billy Draper ’07 against Abbot’s Pat Curtin ’07, who also enjoys the deep jumpers. Down low, Staff’s Charlie Houghton ’06 will face John Gardner ’08. The man, the myth, the legend, Steven Bartz ’08, will do his best to keep Da-Chuan King ’08 on locks. So I guess “this is going to be one hell of a game” would be the main point of this presentation. The cluster finals are set to take place on Thursday, February 23. At this point, it’s anyone’s ‘ship.
