Mixed Division Coverage - Day Three

By Neva Cherniavsky

Quarters:

Red Fish Blue Fish got the harder four seed, by virtue of Pool A's strength. Early on the teams trade downwinders. B+ relies on great defense and athletic plays by their men, but also seems to be better today in the wind. Their zone O is clicking. RFBF is great in the wind, though not nearly as athletic. Their men lose some high grab contests to the shorter B+ men. B+ makes plenty of mistakes though, which RFBF starts converting. B+ goes up 4-3 and then the Fish go on a run to make it 7-4. But RFBF couldn't seem to take half. B+ claws their way back in to make it 9-7, playing the field position game well and working it against the Fish's zone. Eventually they extend their lead to 11-8, then trade downwinders to win 15-12.

The other Mid-Atlantic team is quite similar to RFBF; great in the wind, not quite as athletic as others. Donner Party knows how to win. The teams trade points early on downwind hucks. FoF plays zone the whole way. The DC team takes half 8-6, but Donner does not despair. Several bad turnovers on their own endline is death for FoF. The Party's offense starts looking a lot smoother, with the spread setting up good deep looks, and the zone O shredding. Donner takes an 11-8 lead and never looks back.

Drive Thru Liquor seems nervous in the quarters, making mistakes early. Holes and Poles has been here before. They have solid veterans to run their offense and play balls out defense. Their downwind hucks connect nicely; H&P is not playing a game of field position so much as taking the right look at the right time. The game is never close.

The other quarterfinal is even more lopsided. Blah, after playing out of their heads to get here, has to face the most dominant team of the tournament. Hang Time simply doesn't make a lot of mistakes, and they are athletic enough to recover on defense when they do. Early on the score is 6-0; once again, Hang Time doesn't take long to win.

Semis: Hang Time goes up on Holes and Poles early. Holes and Poles has a number of athletes but just isn't connecting on the long throws. Though this is a rematch of regional finals, which were quite close, Hang Time was missing a key player in #14 Lenny Correll. At the Championships it's a different story. Hang Time looks dominant. Unlike past years, they are using their women, most notably #7 Lisa Etchison. The difference seems to be confidence. Hang Time knows that someone will get open every time. If their first look is shut down, they know a second one will be there. They have an athletic advantage on both the male and female sides and are deep. The offense is super chilly and the defense shuts opponents down. This one wasn't close, with a final score of 15-7.

In the other semi, Donner Party takes on B+ in a rematch of yesterday's power pools. B+ made that game close, but this time Donner seems ready. Scotty Conway (#39), a key player for Donner, is hurt early, but it doesn't seem to matter. Donner is deep across the board and plays fairly consistent, though they will let it rip for field position. B+ is a young team with some incredible athletes, but they turn it over too much. They rely on their defense to get them back the disc, which doesn't work against good offenses. Though Donner has been inconsistent this tournament, they are still getting the W's. It's close early, but 8-4 at half, and Donner never relinquishes the lead. The final score is 15-10.

Yesterday, Donner lost 15-8 to Hang Time. B+ lays claim to the closest game with Hang Time so far, which was still at least a five point differential. Can Donner change the tide? Or will Hang Time continue their dominance?

All ideas expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UPA