The reward the Knights would get as a result of the win would be a chance to upset the top seeded, undefeated, and 4-time defending Champion NY USAB Warriors 18’s. But there would be no Cinderella magic this afternoon, as the Warriors took advantage of the spent Knights, taking it easy in a 58-23 walkthrough. Devin Figueroa (18 pts, 4 treys, 2 assists), Kevin Cai (a dozen points and four 3’s), and Kevin Chang (9 points, 4 assists) led the New York assault. The other semifinal was the one that we all wanted to watch, as the 2nd seeded NY Young Life Rockits (2008 Runners Up, 2009 Pre-NACBAIT Classic Champs) would play the 3rd seeded NY ISS Flights. Last year, these two teams had also faced each other in the Semifinals, with the Rockits staging an improbable win as they came from behind for a 24-21 win. That low scoring game saw ISS’ legitimate NACBAIT title aspirations vanish into thin air. Coach Mike Mei’s YL Rockits came into this year’s Tournament as the one team that had a real shot at unseating USAB. But in this type of situation, no team is going to just say, “Mercy” or wave the white flag. Plus, ISS Flights remembered what it was like last year to have their best chance at a title slip out of their clutching hands in the Semifinals. You know what they say about payback, and Coach Yeung’s ISS was a team with nothing to lose and revenge on their minds. They made it a point to do their best to prevent Jimmy Lau (2-time All NACBA PG, 11 pts, 9-10 ft) from hitting his sweet spots in the lane, and to keep bigman Eddie Zheng (7 points) off the glass. On offense, lanky forward Peter Nguyen (10 pts, 6-7 ft) was the go to guy at the start as he continually took it to the cup and got to the free throw line. The Flights garnered a 7 point lead by halftime, and was thinking upset time. But Jimmy Lau got cooking in the second half, and Cheuk Wong was able to drop some buckets too, as the Rockits pulled themselves back into it. All-Tourney pick Jason Wu (17 pts, 9-10 ft) turned on the afterburners for ISS, as he got into the flow. The Flights put the game on ice, hitting swishing in 12 of 15 free throws in the second half as they advanced 39-34.