The Finals - Beach Warriors Back 2 Back champs on Ron Beals historial Day

FINALS - Recap by Brandon HarrissonSunday, August 18City of Los Angeles honored the Venice legend at the conclusion of the VBL Playoffs.The VBL finished off another hoop filled summer at the beach with a full slate ofgames. The Kids VBL got it going in the am, then the VBL legends tipped off, and theCelebrity game featuring Indiana Pacers point guard, George Hill finished off theafternoon, but the showcase was the VBL Championship. Number one seed, Rise ofThe Nation led by T-Will fell to the defending champion Beach Warriors and Michael“Take A Picture” Blue, 76-75. The first quarter was tight ending a 17-17 tie. T-Willlead Rise of the Nations with 6 points in the first, which included a fast break dunkwhile wearing his trademark glasses. No Fear also chipped in by knocking down acouple form long distance. The Beach Warriors used their depth and a balancedattack that continued into the second quarter. Mike Jones, B-Train, and The Bayknocked down threes, while Pop Champagne dominated on the inside. T-Will took arest mid way through the second quarter and the ROTN offense ground to a halt.Having only 6 players, it became clear that ROTN was dealing with some severefatigue issues, as the deeper Beach Warriors seemed to conserve much more energy.No Fear and T-Will were responsible for nearly all of ROTN’s offensive effort. . Thediminutive Mani Love entered the game with four minutes left in the second whichwas a clear opportunity for ROTN to make a run but the Beach Warriors stuckaround eventually taking a 41-38 lead into half despite an impressive performancesfrom No Fear and T-Will. The second half kicked off with Mani Love having a majorimpact on the game. Love’s ball dominant style resulted in a couple of nice dimesthat , will forever be known as Ron Beals' Day at Venice Beach, as theincluding a ridiculous alley-oop to Michael Blue that got the crowd on their feet. Onthe flipside, ROTN quickly shifted their attack to an inside out approach that focusedon posting up Love. Although he was quiet in the first half, Donovan Plunkett wasable to capitalize easily inside with Love guarding him. Midway through the 3Beach warriors had opened up a 6-point lead that seemed a lot larger. The full lineup swaps were keeping the Warriors fresh but ROTN was able to lean on the bigman Compton in the post and quickly go on an 8-2 taking the lead from the Warriors58-56 going into the fourth. The Beach Warriors rarely played their best line upduring the third and it was clear that it would more difficult for the ROTN to geteasy buckets without Mani Love on the court. The Beach Warriors went inside toPop champagne for their first 3 possession of the resulting in two easy buckets anda smooth dish to the cutting point guard Mr. Fab. ROTN could not seem to get easybuckets to fall as every layup rimmed in and out, and they settled for long threes.They adjusted their strategy to a post up offense to get points off of second fouls andthings got chippy inside between Bigalow and Donovan Plunkett as they battled forpost position. The Beach Warriors had another five-man substitution at the 6-minute mark, that looked bad for the exhausted ROTN, but their consistent pressuredriving to the rack kept them in the game on second foul points. The final minuteswere a crazy back and forth affair with neither team willing to give up the lead forlong. A T Will fast break bucket gave the ROTN a one-point lead but the BeachWarriors responded right back with Pop Champagne on the inside. With the BeachWarriors leading 70-71 at the 2 minute mark, Plunkett attempted a wild one on onetake against Mr. Fab, despite being out of control he was able to draw a second fouland give ROTN a one point lead. The Warriors were looking to capitalize off of thesame foul rule looking to Pop Champagne inside but after a scuffle under the basket,ROTN leaked out on the break where Plunkett ultimately blew the layup despitehaving No Fear wide open. With 45 seconds left, Pop Champagne was fouled andgiven a 2 shots to take the lead. He missed them both but the Beach Warriors wereable to corral the board and Mr. Fab a far better shooter, knocked down both of hisfree throws. No Fear immediately called for an isolation against Pop Champagneand broke him down easily getting to the free throw line knocking down both. Withten seconds left and the game slipping away Pop Champagne lost the ball toCompton and the referees called a jump ball, much to the chagrin of the BeachWarriors who felt ROTN was illegally double-teaming. On the jump, PopChampagne was able to control the tip from Compton and guided it right to the high flying Michael Blue who laid it in. No Fear lost the ball on his way to the basket and the Beach Warriors popped champagne claiming their second straight VBL title.TWill of ROTN was named VBL MVP.