3.5 Finals REPEAT CHAMPS! - Michael Belliveau
The opening match was Brendan against Bump Wilcox. Out of the gate is was clear that Brendan was going to win--Bump was the crafty veteran who could retrieve a lot, but his shots stayed up too long to be winners against Brendan. And nobody is going to out-retrieve Brendan. The first game remained close nonetheless, with Brendan prevailing 11-7.
To those watching, it seemed Bump would be vulnerable to the drop, so Brendan was encouraged to hit it short in the second game. Unfortunately, Bump seemed to prefer this style, and he won 11-8. Still, there weren't any concerns as to who was going to win the match. It was just going to take longer.
In games 3 and 4, Brendan went back to hitting deep rails, and actually hit them crisper than he did in the first game. When Bump was loose with a return, Brendan would make him pay with a drop or crush it past Bump. Games 3 and 4 to Brendan, 11-2, 11-4.
On court 5, Prithvi and Matt Herring got a late start. Matt showed himself to be a better player than I thought, and I already thought he was good. But Prithvi is no slouch himself, and jumped out to a one game lead after taking the first game 11-5. The second game was a back and forth affair, and Prithvi was just missing on some shots, falling 11-8.
Game 3 was going to be pivotal, especially with Prithvi's lungs not at full capacity because of pneumonia. Both players elevated their games, and another close game was in the making. At 9-9 and Matt serving, Prithvi played outstanding to win the point and gain the serve. He then won the next point to take an important 2-1 lead.
Game 4 went quickly in Prithvi's favor, as he ran off five straight points to lead 8-2. After relinquishing the serve for one point, Prithvi immediately won it back and took the next two points and the match.
[So we're feeling good at this point, up two matches to zero. But we were up the same score last year, and nearly lost.]
Back on court 3, Cel is playing Ian Walker. Early in the match, it was clear that "good Cel" has arrived--his shots are crisp and tight, and he's being aggressive. (this is all relative, mind you. Aggressive Cel still lets 80% of his opponent's shots come off the back wall.) The scouting report was that Ian was good off the back wall as well, but might struggle with tight rails, and this was borne out. Cel won the first game 11-5.
On court 1, Drew has started his match against Taylor Milner, and it hasn't gone well. Taylor won the first 6 points, and rolled to an 11-5 win.
Meanwhile, Ian picked up his play in the second game and things got tighter, but Cel was just too tough, and pulled out game 2, 11-9.
[For those who are keeping score, we are up 8 games to 3. So Marblehead would need to win all the remaining games to force the match to the second tiebreaker.]
During the break, Drew is told that he just needs to win one game. This, apparently, relaxes Drew and gets him to focus--don't worry about the match, just one game--and he returns to favor to Taylor, sprinting out to a 5-1 lead and never looking back.
Game to Drew. **Championship to BRC**
Seconds later, Cel pulls out another 11-9 win to take his match 3-0.
So now all the focus in on Drew's match, tied at 1-1. Drew had been wanting a rematch with Taylor since Taylor beat him 3-1 last month, and Drew was more determined than I have ever seen him in a league match. Taylor couldn't match the intensity, and Drew powered through the next two games, 11-7, 11-7.
Four BRC wins! A truly remarkable evening.
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