After the group stage of the inaugural Gulf Coast Basketball Tournament concluded, basketball fans were eager to see a potential finals battle between the two best teams of the group stage, Sarzonia and Banija.
It wasn't just this tournament in isolation that would provide the intrigue. After all, the Stars faced Banija across multiple competitions including baseball, football and lacrosse, and are in the early stages of potentially developing a similar sort of rivalry with that country that Sarzonia has long had with Delaclava.
Sure, both teams took care of their respective assignments with Group 1 champions Sarzonia demolishing Group 2 runners up Hispania y Filipinas and Group 2 champions Banija slipping past Group 1 runners up Inner Agianiausordia 97-93. But there's one problem with the notion of a Sarzonia-Banija final in this tournament using so-called NBA rules. The teams will be playing each other in the semifinals.
Instead of choosing to employ seeding procedures that could have still set up a final for the ages in this new tournament, Northwest Kalactin chose a tournament bracket that arguably sets up the best match of the entire tournament as a semifinal.
"It's not ideal," said guard Mike West, who was held to just nine points after slightly turning his ankle in the second quarter. Team doctors cleared him at halftime, but coach Thomas Manningham opted not to play him after the injury.
"If it were a close game, we would have used Mike again," Manningham said. "But we were already up by 30 at halftime so there was no need to test him and risk further injury." West will be in the starting lineup against Banija.
Forward Trent Klatt stepped up into the void created by the absence of West, pumping in a personal career high 45 points on 18-for-31 shooting from the floor and grabbing 12 rebounds. Reserve guard Jayne Cruz added 30 points as she played many of the minutes that might otherwise have gone to West.
Being a coach, Manningham harped on one thing about his team's dominant performance against Hispania y Filipinas. The defence.
"We allowed 93 points against them. That's more than we allowed anyone in the group stage," he said. "That's just not going to cut it against a team of the calibre of Banija."
West gave his coach a look. After all, Sarzonia won by such a wide margin that even Lisander's easy 113-88 victory over HUElavia paled in comparison to the 54-point beatdown the Stars just laid on Hispania y Filipinas. But Manningham was serious about his complaint about the team's defence.
"I'm a coach. I need something to harp on!" he said.
