In a contest that had every bit the feel of a "drag 'em out fight to the finish" playoff encounter Sunday afternoon at the old barn on Elgin Street, the Sudbury Five proved they have the ability to draw upon the resolve that is needed to achieve post-season success.
After faltering in the latter stages of game one versus the Jamestown Jackals and stung for a 121-117 loss, the Five raised their level of play as game two wore on, chalking up a 121-116 victory to even the best of five semi-final affair at a game apiece.
Sure, there were a couple of brief runs created by both teams, increasing the lead on either side to as high as ten points or so, but for the most part, this was a five point swing, at most, almost from start to finish.
The highly intense battle featured no less than 13 lead changes, with the homeside never relinquishing the advantage in the fourth quarter - though the game was deadlocked on a couple of occasions in the final 12 minutes of play.
A variety of players stepped up at various times for both teams, with the Five leaning heavily upon Charlie Marquardt (30), J.D. Miller (24) and Duane Notice (20) in key moments in the win.
Secondary scoring came courtesy of Jelani Simmons (12), Jermaine Haley (11) and Diego Bernard (10), though to be truthful, every single player who took to the floor provided some sort of big play at a big time.
Same held true for Jamestown, with Derrick Colter going 6/10 from beyond the arc as part of a 30-point performance, topping a list that also included Devante Jamison (22), Khalil Gracey (14) and Evan Hinson (12) as double digit contributors.
Tagged with far more fouls than the Five (34 vs 23), the Jackals sent Sudbury to the charity stripe so much more often that even a deficit in relative efficiency from the line (Jamestown shot 81.% vs 76.1% for Sudbury) was negated given the lead the homeside had in buckets from the line (35 to 17).
Turnovers plagued coach Logan Stutz' squad in game one and while there was some mismanagement of the ball again on Sunday, an 8-7 advantage in turnovers created for the visitors is not worth splitting hairs.
Game one on Friday, by contrast, saw Sudbury squander a 12-point lead (111-99) with under six minutes to play as Jamestown closed out the game with a 22-6 run.
Derrick Colter was again central to that late surge, finishing with 19 points, though the Jackals attack was nicely spread throughout the lineup: Devante Jamison (19), Deon Stroud (17), Tyshon Pickett (15), Tafari Beckford (14), Khalil Gracey (13).
Sudbury countered with the trio of J.D. Miller (27), Charlie Marquardt (24) and Ja'Myrin Jackson (23) at the top of the charts, with Duane Notice (15) and Jermaine Haley (12) slightly off the pace.
The teams now resume this series Wednesday in western New York, with game four set State-side for Friday and game five, if necessary, returning to Sudbury next Sunday afternoon (April 13th), with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
The series winner will face the winner of the Highway 401 battle between the KW Titans and Windsor Express, with that affair also tied at a game apiece.
