True rivalries are born of tight games played out with the highest of stakes on the line. After three years of slugging it out with the Joy Boys, the last year has presented the Ballers with a new rival in the form of the Durangos. The Summer of 2018 saw the Durangos throw down the gauntlet with a pair of scintillating comebacks to defeat the Ballers, the second of which came in the semi-finals. With a pair of victories in the fall and another tight win in the regular season of the winter session, the Ballers seemed to have gotten their sea legs established in the pitched battle. The 2019 Winter League finale would solidify the Durangos as the successor to the Joy Boys as rivals in the City of Alexandria league.
In a matchup of the two hottest teams in the league, the Durangos, winners of 7 of their last 8, faced a streaking GDB squad, 8-1 over their last nine including wins in their last six. Both teams dispatched higher seeds in relatively easy fashion, scoring a pair of double digit wins each in their quarterfinal and semi-final matchups. Those wins served to make good on a promise to rematch after the Ballers won the closely contested regular season matchup in the last week of the season. 10 days later that rematch would indeed take place.
All signs pointed to a superstar collision between the Durangos #55 Mo and the Ballers Ed Reddick. They would not disappoint. Reddick was the engine that powered the Ballers to a 6 point halftime lead scoring 11 of his game high 21 points in the first 20 minutes. His defense on Mo was just as good holding him to 2-6 shooting and just 5 points. Down 16-10, a timeout led to GDB using a bevy of contributors with 5 different players scoring during a 19-7 run to take control of the game into halftime. A trio of three pointers from LJ Bowling and Ed Reddick were interspersed between points from Chris Larson, Chris Miller and Dave Ben. That had the defending champs salivating heading into halftime with a 29-23 lead.
The Ballers continued to strangle the Durangos offense for the first 7 minutes of the second half, holding them to 31% shooting and just 3-16 from the 3 point line. When Reddick made a basket with 11:30 remaining, GDB held a 36-31 lead that would be their last cushion of the game. Mo decided to take things into his own hands with a pull up three over Reddick, a drive that ended in two made FTs and a putback made his own 7 point run and had the game tied at 38. As the clock ticked below 7 minutes Will Harris found Chris Miller wide open with a cross court pass, which he promptly deposited in the bottom of the net for a three pointer. However just moments later the Durangos would answer with a three from an unlikely source when their center #13 knocked down the equalizer at 43 all.
A coaching decision that will haunt the Ballers then led to no point guards being on the court for one of the most pivotal plays of the game. With a need for a rest, Ballers captain Chris Larson subbed out for LJ Bowling instead of Ryan Demagistris. That left no primary ball handlers on the floor. Will Harris brought the ball up and when he turned to make a pass from the high post, Durangos point guard #2 Eric overcame a foot height disadvantage to strip the ball away and speed down the court for the first Durangos lead.
Durangos combined defensive stops and free throws to push out to a five point lead with under 2 minutes to play, but the Ballers would mount one more charge as Reddick and Harris made their mark inside and split 4 free throws. A turnover on a long pass by Mo would leave the Ballers with the ball down 50-48 with 33 seconds left. Another Durangos-GDB game would be decided on in the final plays. As Reddick had dominated the paint through out the game, the ball found him once again. After rejecting a Larson screen, Reddick bullied his way to the basket, but this time #13 was waiting for him to draw the charge. The Durangos had a chance to seal the game at the line, but split two free throws to keep the game at one possession difference. The Ballers chose not to call timeout and pushed the ball forward to Mike Reamy who lined up a potential game-tying three pointer that wasn't to be. When Mo rebounded the miss, he would find his 14th rebound of the game. He finished off two free throws and the game MVP award (team high 17 points and team high 3 assists) at the other end and the Durangos claimed their first City of Alexandria Winter League title.
The Ballers loss denied them a chance to be the first back to back winter league champions since the records were kept, going back to the 2010 season. They also missed the chance to go back to back in 2014 when they lost in disappointing fashion in the finale to the Ball Hogz. One thing is for certain, the summer will be very interesting watching these two teams battle for Alexandria supremacy.
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