VBL '24 Play-In Games Recap
Written by Ben Geffner & Natalia Lopez
With Week 6 Play-In Tournament action underway, it was win-or-go-home at Venice Beach – resulting in an electric weekend of single elimination VBL hoops, as four teams fought to secure the final two playoff bids and claw their way into the postseason.
Nosha vs. Sole Creators
The first game of the weekend lived up to the hype, producing a multitude of highlight reel moments along the way. VBL’s Commissioner Sam stepped in to start – dawning the Nosha jersey and electrifying the crowd with a lightning-fast pair of buckets to open. Sole surged back throughout the remainder of the first quarter, jumping out to an early lead. A flurry of second chance points from Zion (6 pts, 5 reb, 3/3 FG) and picturesque passing from the Sole big men – led by Brandon “Big Baby” (16 pts, 8/13 FG) and Taylor – capped a dominating first-quarter run. But Omari’s late arrival brought Nosha back to life in the second quarter. The star guard instantly took control of the game with steals and highlight-worthy fastbreak dunks to follow, notching double-digit points before halftime. An array of stop-and-start hesi drives by London (10 pts, 2 steals) and more buckets by Omari (24 pts, 3 steals, 11/15 FG) closed out a competitive first half of hoops, with Nosha breathing down Sole’s neck. Nosha’s run continued throughout the third quarter, as more transition layups and dunks from Nez (14 pts, 3 ast) – including a wild poster dunk on Zion that sent him to The Chair – further fueled the comeback. But similar to the start, it was all Sole down the stretch. POTG (Player of the Game) Taylor (31 pts, 6 reb) single handedly closed out one of the most efficient single-game player performances of the VBL season – switching the momentum through the fourth quarter to secure a 94-78 Sole Creators’ victory, earning the first VBL Play-In bid.
New Jersey Sets vs. Bred Winners
Despite entering the game as underdogs, Bred Winners kept pace early – led by Young Mouth (22 pts, 2 ast). But NJS’ high-powered, dynamic offense eventually proved too much, breaking the game open en route to a 82-60 victory. The NJS scoring attack was headlined by POTG Samkelo Cele – a professional basketball player in the BAL (Basketball Africa League) and recent member of the New York Knicks’ NBA Summer League squad. Cele (25 pts, 2 steals, 6/8 3PT FG) electrified the crowd with a third-quarter three-point barrage, splashing four (yes, four) triples in the span of a minute. Tensions boiled between both teams throughout the second half – but the fourth quarter was more of the same, with NJS further extending its lead to cruise down the stretch. A late-game triple from 12-year-old Braedon, along with an exclamation and-one poster dunk by Erik (20 pts, 5 reb), capped another dominating game for a red-hot NJS squad that’s peaking at the perfect time – clinching the final postseason berth and officially rounding out the VBL playoff field in advance of next weekend’s VBL Quarterfinals.
VBL Playoff Bracket:
VBL Player Leaders by Category:
*All stats are accumulated and averaged between all Weeks
Week 7 Quarterfinals Schedule:
