Under any set of circumstances, it would be foolish to expect the Sarzonian national basketball team to realistically expect to compete on equal footing with Newmanistan as the two teams tipped off in the semifinals of the 30th International Basketball Championships.
Regardless of how you account for time, the epic battles between the Stars and the Rockets for IBC supremacy happened a long time ago. Whether you subscribe to the Empire's assertion that those battles happened decades ago or simply years ago in Sarzonian measure, the glory days of the Stars-Rockets rivalry have long since passed. Henry West is no longer the Stars coach and Chris Draden is no longer Sarzonia's marquee player, and Corey Ostroff was recently memorialised by Newmanistanian basketball supporters.
Sarzonia would fall short of its upset hopes, losing to the Rockets 90-78, consigning them to a third place playoff against Green Group rivals Quebec, who got absolutely demolished 103-61 by Banija in their semifinal match despite the Lions surviving a four-overtime thriller in the quarterfinals against Kriegiersien.
Even though the matchup between this Stars team and this Rockets unit may not be like the glory days of the past, the anticipation for this Stars-Rockets matchup was through the roof. Despite the fact that it was Thomas Manningham, not West calling the shots for Sarzonia and it was Henry's youngest son Mike West who was the Sarzonian player named to the Team of the Tournament by readers of The Háttmark Harbinger, a website based in host nation Græntfjall, any sense that the two teams would downplay the history between the teams ended as soon as Stars centre Terry Rutledge crouched in position for the opening tip against his Rockets counterpart Byron Storm. Manningham looked and saw Rockets head coach Kevin Gibson direct a scowl toward him. Manningham returned it with one of his own, leading a Drawk official to put his hands up to both coaches as if to say "shut it down, you two."
The Rockets jumped out to an early 15-2 lead and looked for all the multiverse like the top ranked team in basketball and the No. 2 seeds of this tournament. They looked like they were about to run the Stars right out of the building as Rutledge quickly ran into foul trouble with two personals in just four minutes of play. After a media timeout, Manningham opted for a small lineup with Mike West taking over at the 3 and Trent Klatt operating at centre. It led to a modest 8-0 Sarzonia run that cut the gap to five. Point guard Travis Warden got around reserve Stars guard Jayne Cruz and fired a 3-pointer that closed out the first quarter and quelled the Stars run with the Rockets up eight.
Newmanistan (12-1) used the momentum of that end-of-quarter three to fuel a 12-2 run that forced Manningham to burn a timeout he'd hoped to save for the end of the half, but then Manningham decided to risk sending Rutledge out despite his foul trouble with Klatt heading to the dressing room to get his ankle taped after a collision on the court. Rutledge then blocked a short-range jumper by Storm that Mike West corralled and bolted down the court with. He slammed the ball home in transition and the Stars suddenly had new life. They went on a 14-2 run of their own, leading Gibson to call timeout and bark at his players.
For his part, Manningham told his team to tighten up defensively and had them initiate a full-court press, something his teams seldom did. His intent, as he explained it to Cruz was to show the Rockets a different look that they weren't expecting. However, Newmanistan broke the press and notched a 3-pointer. Still, the change in tactics led to two turnovers in the next two possessions and two consecutive mid-range jumpers by Mike West, and Sarzonia were now down 32-30 at the half. However, the Stars were running on fumes after two overtime victories against higher seeded teams, and the third quarter would expose that. The Rockets won that quarter 35-21 and began to send on a couple of reserves to allow starters to rest up for their battle against Banija.
That's when the Stars reached back for a little bit extra with five minutes left and the Rockets up 88-68, going on one final 10-2 run to make the final margin respectable. Following the match and a brief handshake with Gibson and a short, perfunctory interview with assembled media, Manningham reiterated what he'd told people before his first match as Stars manager.
"It's a process," he said, reminding the media that the Stars were 82nd ranked prior to the previous edition of the IBC. "We hadn't competed internationally for a long time, and we weren't good in the 28th IBC. We've come a long way in these two editions, but building back to a team that can realistically consider itself one of the basketball blue bloods is going to take time. It may happen next IBC. It might not. But we can be proud of all the work we've done."
When a reporter asked Mike West, who led the Stars with 27 points against the Rockets, about being named to the Team of the Tournament by The Háttmark Harbinger’s website's readers, he snapped, "small consolation. Next question." The next day, Mike West issued a statement.
"I'm honoured that the readers of The Háttmark Harbinger have chosen me to be among the five members of the Team of the Tournament," his statement, which also appeared on the microblogging site Chirp. "It's a testament to the hard work of my teammates that allowed us all to be in a position to challenge for a trip to the finals in this tournament. I'm sorry if my comments last night didn't reflect the deep honour I feel toward being considered for this honour."
As for the third meeting with Quebec, Mannnigham said the team would not use the third placed playoff to rest any starters.
"We're out for revenge," he said, "and we want to prove to those guys we belong on the medal stand."