No. 3 seed Mike Walter & Associates defeated second-seed Harry’s Grill 82-71 in semifinal action Jan. 3 and followed with a tight 50-46 victory over top seed Beach to Bay Construction Jan. 4 to take the title in the Center of Anna Maria Island adult basketball league.
Walter & Associates staked themselves to a 26-21 halftime lead behind the scoring of Thomas Gish, Nick Evangelista and Jay Terry.
The rest of the game saw Beach to Bay battling to reel Walter & Associates back in but, time and time again, Walter held its opponents at bay.
Beach to Bay pulled to within a point early in the second half on baskets by Jerry Szklarek and Matt Rossi, but two foul shots by Gish restored the Walter lead.
Beach to Bay took a 36-34 lead with 8:53 to play on an offensive rebound putback by Szklarek, but a 3-pointer by Gish from the top of the key gave Walter a 37-36 lead.
Terry extended the Walter lead to 39-36 with a steal and a layup, but Joe Bazzo’s 3-pointer for Beach to Bay tied the game at 39-39 with 5:27 remaining.
Two driving layups by Terry extended the Walter lead to 43-39 with just over three minutes to play.
Scott Eliseo was fouled driving to the basket and hit one of two foul shots to pull to within 3 points. Rossi went to the line just over a minute later and hit one of two foul shots to pull to 43-41 with 1:57 left to play.
Ian Hardy drove the lane and laid it in for a 45-41 lead, but another 3-pointer by Bazzo pulled Beach to Bay to within a point with 57 seconds left to play.
Walter went into something of a four-corner play as they tried to whittle the time down, which spread the Beach to Bay defense out. The increased space allowed Gish room to operate and he got fouled on a drive to the basket.
Gish hit both foul shots to give Walter a 47-44 lead with 45 seconds remaining. Rossi got fouled on a driving layup, giving Beach to Bay a chance to tie the score. However, his foul shot didn’t fall, leaving Walter with a 47-46 lead and 35 seconds left.
Evangelista came up with a steal and was fouled on his drive to the basket. He made one of two foul shots for a 2-point lead and 17 seconds on the clock.
Gish then iced the game when he came up with a steal and, after getting fouled, he aced his free throws to close out the scoring with Walter on top by a 50-46 score.
Gish led all scorers with 18 points, while Evangelista finished with 12 points. Terry added 10 points for Walter, which also received 6 points from Hardy and 4 points from Sam Hooker to close out the scoring.
Rossi scored 12 points and Szklarek scored 10 to lead Beach to Bay, which also received 8 points from Bazzo and 6 points from Eliseo in the loss.
Beach to Bay Construction advanced to the finals by rolling to a 60-45 victory over Intechgrate Systems in the semifinals.
Games are played in the center gym at 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria.
Adult soccer moves into playoffs
Mason Martin Construction has the top seed wrapped up for the upcoming playoffs in the adult soccer league at the center field in Anna Maria.
Mason Martin finished its regular season with a 6-1-1 record after defeating Wash Family Construction 4-1 Jan. 5 behind two goals from Anthony Barberio and a goal each from Frank Agnelli and Nate Welch. Matt Kretzman scored the lone goal for WFC in the loss, which gives them a 5-3 record and the fourth seed.
Ross Built earned second seed by blowing out Jiffy Lube 10-4 behind five goals from Kevin Roman and two goals from Greg Ross. Chris Circharo, Stetson Matthews and Connor Bystrom completed the scoring with a goal each in the victory.
Murat Akay, Vince Circharo, Ed Moss and Shay Coleman scored a goal each to earn second seed and lead Jiffy Lube in the loss.
Anna Maria CrossFit earned third seed after edging Slim’s Place 3-2 behind two goals from Will Kretzman and a goal from Rico Beissert.
Andre Lewis led Slim’s Place with two goals, which wrapped up the eighth seed with the loss.
Eason Builders Group finished the year with a 3-3-2 record and fifth seed after easing past Acqua Aveda by a 4-1 score. Josh Sato, Alisha Keene, Matt Plummer and Bing Robinson each scored a goal to lead Eason in the victory.
Acqua Aveda, which clinched the sixth seed and finished with a 2-6 record, had a goal from Steve Oelfke.
The playoffs get started at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, with Eason taking on WFC, followed at 7 p.m. by Ross Built battling Jiffy Lube. Anna Maria CrossFit will match up with Acqua Aveda at 8 p.m., while Slim’s Place will take on top-seeded Mason Martin Construction on the pitch at 9 p.m.
Key Royale golf news
Marty Hicks and Art McMillan got their games off to a good start by tying for first place with a score of plus-2 in the first modified-Stableford system match of the new year Jan. 2.
Forty-six women kicked off the new year Jan. 3 with a nine-hole individual-low-net golf match in four flights.
Heather Pritchard fired a 7-under-par 25 to grab first place in Flight A. Phyllis Roe, who had a chipin birdie on the first hole was alone in second with a 5-under-par 27, while Marlyn Thorton finished in third place with a 1-under-par 31.
Sharon Tarras, Sue Wheeler and Barb Estok tied for first place in Flight B with matching 1-over-par 33s, but Tarras won the flight by virtue of a card off — a scorecard comparison starting with the most difficult hole and working back until a winner is found.
Marilyn Niewijk was the outright winner of Flight C with a 2-under-par 30. Rita Allan and Terry Westby both had even-par 32s, but Allan won second place on the card off.
Anne Klein and Janet Razze both finished at 1-under par 31 in Flight D, but Klein won the tiebreaker and first place and Razze had to settle for second. Marty Clark took third place with a 1-over-par 33.
The men were back on the course Jan. 5 for a nine-hole scramble. The team of Jim Auch, Jon Holcomb, Kent Newbold and Jim Watt combined on a 5-under-par 27 to earn clubhouse bragging rights for the day.
Second place was a tie between the team of Mike Brakfefield, John Estok, Dave Frankefield and Larry Pippel, who matched the 4 under carded by the team of Jack Connors, Art McMillan and Quentin Talbert.
Horseshoe news
Horseshoe players kicked off a new year of tosses and ringers Jan. 4 with three teams emerging from pool play to battle for the day’s bragging rights at the Anna Maria City Hall horseshoe pits.
Bob Mason and Hank Huyghe drew the bye into the finals and watched as Dom Livedoti and Bob Lee outscored Bob Palmer and Tom Farrington 21-13. In a close final, Livedoti and Lee won the day with a 23-18 victory over Mason and Huyghe.
Jan. 7 action was washed out by the rain.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed by random team selection. There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome.