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The first Semifinal would be an all-Dragons meeting, as the #1 Chicago Dragons had a date with the #4 Toronto Dragons in a battle of undefeated 5-0 teams. Both of these teams play a traditional and balanced brand of ball that has been successful for each of them over the years. Toronto knew that guard Andrew Tsai (14 pts, 2 treys) of Chicago would need to be the one guy that they couldn’t let out of their sights, as he is deadly when left alone. They held him to a 1 of 5 performance in the first half. On offense, the young Toronto guards (Andrew Suen & Jordan Chiang) showed great discipline in passing up good shots for great shots as they unselfishly worked the ball around the horn until they got wide open looks, or were able to dump it down to Jon Tam (3-3 in first half, 9 points)or Denny Lee (4 pts, 2-3 fg’s) for layups. The only guy who was doing much for Chicago was forward/center Pat Chin (3-7 fg’s, 1 triple in the first half), but is play was clearly not enough. Toronto was up 31-14 midway through, and the way it was looking, Chicago just didn’t have a chance. The second half was a completely different story. Toronto was unable to make the exact shots they were making only moments earlier (shooting on 33% in second the half). Pat Chin also went ice cold for Chi-town as he went 0-6. But Andrew Tsai came alive, pouring in 10 second half points, and Brian Hale came into his own as he tallied 6 of his own. Chicago was able to pull themselves within 4 points, but sparked by Kenny Ao, Toronto went back up by 11 with 5 minutes left. At that point, everyone figured Chicago had made their run and they were done for the tournament. That is, everyone but Gene Lee’s Chicago Dragons. They got within 4 once again with only a minute left. After Damean Clinton and Andrew Tsai drove to the hoop for buckets, the score was tied with 10 seconds to go. Jordan Chiang had one last chance to win it for Toronto, but he couldn’t get a good shot and the game went into OT. Damean Clinton hit 2 of 3 ft for Chicago and Kenny Ao hit a driver for Toronto, so the score was 49-49. Toronto had the ball at their own baseline with 1.2 seconds left. They drew up a Christian Laettner play and threw it to veteran big man Denny Lee for the clutch finish. He received the ball at the free throw line for a good looking turnaround jumpshot, but the shot clanged off the rim as we headed into double OT. Chicago made a big 3 as Pat Chin connected on his first make since the first half, while Toronto’s 6-7 center Jon Tam and Kenny Ao scored to give their team a one point lead. Andrew Tsai then scored 2 more points for Chicago, and they were up by 1 with 15 seconds. Toronto’s Jordan Chiang brought the ball up the court. Cameron Shubert anticipated the crossover move, as he got his hands on some leather and went down for the layin as Chicago had a sweet comeback in their 56-53 win.
The second game of the Final Four would be the Seattle Bladerunners against Washington CYC A. Hank Huang (7 pts, 4 rebs) of CYC started off by hitting his first midrange jumper. Seattle attempted to establish their dominance inside as they tried to get it inside to Jim Shih, but CYC was able to swarm him inside to cause 3 early turnovers. Seattle was forced to look elsewhere for points, as Austin Yuen (15 points, 4-5 FG, 6-6 ft, 2 assists) answered the call for his team. He became the primary weapon, scoring 9 points in the first half on a mix of jumpers, fadeaways, and free throws. Seattle was able to stretch the defense of Washington, and Shih took over near the hoop, scoring 8 before halftime. Washington would counter with a wave of 3-point shots, hitting 5/12 in the half to keep them in the game. At the half, the score was 30-25 Seattle. In the second half, 6-10 Mike Kan came on for the Bladerunners, finding the range on 2 turnaround post moves to give Seattle a 7 point cushion. Huy Nguyen swished 2 free throws for DC, and Austin Yuen answered back moments later with another jumper. On a defensive miscommunication, Wesley Hsu found himself open in the corner for a 3-point shot that broke the game wide open, as Seattle was suddenly up by 10. CYC fought back tooth and nail, by popping more trifectas and settling in for some solid defensive stands, and they were able to cut the lead to 5 with a minute to play after Bobby Hsieh got a 23 footer to fall. But Seattle made their free throws when it really counted and the final score was Seattle 61, Washington 51 as the Bladerunners would advance to the Championship game once again. Wesley Hsu (13 pts, 2-3 treys) and Jim Shih (13 pts, 5-6 fg, 3 blocks) had big games for Seattle, while Jeffrey Lee (14 pts, 4 triples, 3 assists) and Huy Nguyen (17 pts, 4 reb) were the top scorers for CYC A.
The battle for the NACBAIT Championship would come down to two teams sporting identical 6-0 records, as the #1 Chicago Dragons Wing Wor (playing this year without leading scorer and go-to guy Joe Carlini, who was out due to injury) and the #2 Seattle Bladerunners awaited each other. These two teams met last year in Philadelphia during pool play, and Chicago had defeated the legendary Bladerunners in Overtime. The game would pit 2 superbly skilled backcourts with college level experience, as Andrew Tsai (MIT), Larry Li (DePaul), Tony Ling (Northwestern), and Damean Clinton (Wyoming) of Chicago would meet Seattle’s Austin Yuen (Seattle Pacific) and Wesley Hsu (Elon). Chicago probably held the edge here once you figure in their depth and the athletic play of Cam Shubert. But up front, Seattle had a big edge with their boatload of big Chinamen in versatile 6-7 Kyle Kiang, 6-10 tall guy Michael Kan, and 6-4 stud Jim Shih. The game was close the whole way, as neither team was able to really pull away. Seattle did get a 12-5 lead, but after a 10-0 run by Chicago, Seattle was down. It was also clear that the fatigue factor was huge for Seattle, as they were playing in back to back games. 80 minutes of consecutive basketball can be really trying on a body, especially since this was their 3rd straight day of hoops. Seattle played a zone defense, and Chicago abused it, nailing 6 triples in the first half. Pat Chin (17 pts, 4 rebs) showed a nice touch for a big guy, as he hit 2 deep ones, and Andrew Tsai (11 pts, 1 swat, 3-7 triples) upheld his reputation as a big time sniper as he also connected 3 times from long distance. Wesley Hsu (20 pts, 9 rebs) and Kyle Kiang (12 pts, 9 boards) were able to pull their team from out of the ashes, and Chicago’s lead was cut to 28-26 at the half. Chicago was able to maintain their pace, and they led 45-40 with just under 4 minutes to play. The Dragons stepped to the line for a one and one, but they missed. Later, Seattle Coach Yu admitted that if Wing Wor had made those free throws to go up by 7, his team likely could not have emerged from a 3 possession hole. The Bladerunners came down the court and ran a play for Jim Shih. Shih missed a tough contested shot with a defender hanging on him, but got the offensive rebound and then missed a point blank putback. Kai Hopton snared the rebound for Chicago, and the Dragons were looking for their guards to control the game from there on out. Larry Li got the rock on the wing. He hesitated to shoot at first, since he knew it was a game of ball control. But his teammates implored him to let it fly from 22 feet. If it went in, the game would be essentially over. So Li reset his feet and fired away. The shot was long, and the Bladerunners pushed the ball upcourt to find Kyle Kiang for a 21 footer. Swish. The Dragons were still up 45-43. After a quick foul, Chicago hit 2 of 2 and they were leading by 4 points, 47-43. Seattle again raced against the clock and got SG Tim Wang to the stripe. He made the first. But on the boxout, Jim Shih dramatically Oscared his way to a whistle. Shih was sent to the line and he made both, as Seattle then trailed by 1. As play resumed from the original point of the foul call, Wang went back to the line for his second try and it went off the front rim as Seattle missed their chance to square the game at 47. The Dragons had the ball, but failed to get off a good shot and Seattle had control of the basketball once again. They went to none other than Mr. Shih. Shih was rejected and the Bladerunners were forced to foul. Chicago hit both free throws of course, and they were up by a triple, 49-46. Austin Yuen came down the right wing, went to the baseline and soared for a jammer. As the help side defender came up to contest the shot. Yuen just hung in the air a little bit longer and finished a nice reverse layup and got the foul call. He went to the line with yet another chance to tie. But the shot missed, and Chicago was sent to the line once more. Pat Chin connected on both and Chicago was up 51-48. Yuen moved the ball upcourt for Seattle and shot a pullup. Tim Wang hustled for the offensive rebound and popped it out to Kiang for a big contested three that also missed. Wesley Hsu’s nose for the ball came through for Seattle, as his offensive rebound and putback with 8 seconds left got them within one, 51-50. The Dragons called timeout on the inbounds to avoid a 5-second call. They came out and Seattle played tremendous deny defense yet again, as Chicago spent yet another TO. On the 3rd inbound attempt, the Dragons were again faced with some majorly tough inbounds defense and the pass was botched. Seattle had the ball with 8 ticks, and inbounded to PG Yuen. Yuen drove into a crowd and Jim Shih emerged from the skirmish with the ball. He was fouled with half a second to play. Seattle thought it was in the bag at this point. But Shih was only true on one of two and the game went into overtime at 51-51. Seattle won the tipoff and Kyle Kiang was able to stall the ball for about a minute and 45 seconds. His squad worked the ball into All-Tourney pick Jim Shih. He got solidposition and scored on a post move with 9 seconds remaining. Chicago inbounded to the speedy Cameron Shubert who raced down the court with his eyes focused on the basket. He drew contact from Austin Yuen, and then tossed up a layup that had a little bit too much English. Yuen  fouled out. Shubert hit the first one in this pressurized situation, andSeattle held a 1 point lead. The pressure mounted even more for the second try, and the shot was off. Who else, but Jim Shih muscled his way in for his 11th rebound. Wing Wor had to put Seattle on the line, and Shih (the final 5 points for his team) went on to sink both to give his team a 3 point lead with 1.2 seconds. The Dragons had one chance for another miracle to head into a second OT. But Wesley Hsu deflected the inbound heave as the Bladerunners captured another chip, 55-52. Seattle then cut down the nets and celebrated in style. Congratulations to the Seattle Bladerunners.
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