Climax wins 7th in a row, defeating rival Grand Rapids
Year after year, at least one team that starts poorly makes a late season run to make the playoffs. This year's team was the Climax 69ers, who overcame 0-4 and 1-5 starts to finish a strong 8-5, thanks to a 127-121 victory over arch-rival Grand Rapids. This is the 69ers' best regular season finish since 1998 when they went 11-3. "I told Paul after he lost the first four games that theres always a team that catches fire and that he had the type of team that could reel off six or seven wins in a row," said Lightning coach Nick Klein. "I guess I was right."
Paul left Nick a voice mail prior to the Monday night game claiming victory depite only holding a 24 point lead and Shaun Alexander had yet to play. Thanks to a blowout, Alexander played little more than a half and Paul's lead was safe. Chris Chambers' 29 point performance, capped by a late touchdown catch proved to be the difference. "A 24 point lead is not always safe going into Monday night," Nick added. "Randy Moss scored 44 points on a Monday night game to force a tie a few years ago. It would have been interesting to get that phone call. That said, all of our recent games have been great and there's a chance we'll play again."
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Yukon Icebreakers 108 Muskegon Mudhens 47
A disappointing season ended with a whimper for Muskegon as they scored a season-low 47 points in a loss to Yukon. Travis clinches their first 10-win season since 1999 with the win, but it came at a cost. Recent acquisition Brien Johnson was lost for the year with a foot injury. "That's gonna hurt," said a disappointed Travis. "Now I'll have to rely on Kevan Barlowe or J.J. Arrington in the playoffs." Fellow trade acquiree Rudi Johnson scored 21 to lead Yukon while Peyton Manning also scored 21 to lead Muskegon.
Standale Big Knox 116 Ironwood Cox 70
Better to lay an egg in week 13 than in week 14. Mike scored a season-low 70 points in a loss to division rival Jeff in a game that decided second place in the Western Division. Hines Ward scored a game-high 25 points for Standale (9-4) while Ironwood (8-5) was led by Tom Brady's 14 points. The win clinches the #3 seed for Jeff while Mike fell to the #5 seed with the loss.
Whooping Llamas 81 Crazy Jimmies 40
The Llamas go into the offseason with some momentum, thanks to a win over the Crazy Jimmies. Jeremy's team won their third straight while the Jimmies finished their year with twelve consecutive losses after a win in week one. Trent Green scored 21 for the Llamas (5-8) while Joey Galloway led the way for the Jimmies (1-12) with 13.
Alaskan Assassins 92 Eugene Levies 58
Alaska continued its late-season dominance over Eugene with a season-ending win for Dave. The Assassins (5-8) won two out of three to close out the year, led again by Larry Johnson's 26-point effort. The Levies (6-7), who had won six in a row to get to 6-1 lost their sixth straight to close out the regular season. Koren Robinson led Duane with 20 points. Eugene will be the #6 seed in the playoffs.
