At the conclusion of this year’s NABA season, Team Ferraro was crowned champion, a result many expected.  But what about other teams?  Here’s a look at who surprised, and who disappointed, in this year’s NABA finale.

Team 12 with Chris Hoffman and company were the shockers of the tournament, going 0-2 in the playoffs after having a great regular season. Many thought they would go far and even contend for the championship, but they had 2 straight losses and were out. 

Team 11 with Jackson Walsh won 1 game all regular season, but ended up making a run in the playoffs, winning 2 games in the winners bracket and 1 in the losers bracket before losing to Team 13 Weet.

But Team 13 Weet’s undefeated season did not last long, as Team 4 Chou with Ben Wilcox upset them in the first round. Team Weet went on to go pretty far in the Loser’s bracket , beating Team 10 with EJ Walters. Team 1 led by Colman Craft eventually got the best of them, and ended their season. Big props to Coach of the year Mr. Weet, who led his team to an undefeated regular season.

Teams 1, 3 and 6 were the big stories of the playoffs. Team 3, with Lucas Henderson, Lincoln Hoke, and Derek Walker in third place, rolled through the playoffs, beating many good teams including Team 1. They ended up losing in the last game of the Winner’s bracket to Team 9 Ferraro by 2 points on a blown wide open layup to tie the game by Derek Walker. They still went through the Loser’s bracket and eventually played team 6 where they lost by 10 points, propelling Team 6 to the championship.

Team 1 led by Colman Craft was not expected to make the run they did. Losing to Team 3 in the Winner’s bracket, they made a long run in the Loser’s bracket and were the downfall of Team 13 Weet. They surprisingly lost to team 6 led by Conner Frank, who dropped 26 points in their game

But Team 6 led by Conner Frank was the real surprise. They lost their first playoff game to team 11 with Jackson Walsh. Then they plowed through the Loser’s bracket, beating every team that came against them and made it to the championship. Conner Frank accounted for most of their points throughout the playoff run, which should be enough to crown him as playoff MVP. They came up just short in the championship game though. 

The eventual champions, Team 9 led by Colin Ward and Jake Burns, were unstoppable. They beat every team they played in the winners bracket by a large margin. Team 3 was a real test and almost beat them, but Derek Walker’s blunder gifted Team 9 a championship berth. 

The championship was played at Carson Middle school and it was packed. Every kid who played NABA was there, freshman and sophomore. The game was close until the final buzzer. With 5 seconds on the clock, freshman guard Michael Huet shot a game saving mid-range shot to send the game to overtime. 

Through the first overtime it was still close. Once again Team 6 was down with 3 seconds left. Conner Frank got a football styled pass at half court, and heaved up a three pointer. The prayer was answered and the shot fell, sending the game to a second overtime.

In the second overtime though, Team 9 went up right away, forcing Team 6 to foul. With 3 quick fouls, Kaden Sanner, Michael Huet, and Conner Frank all fouled out. This gave Team 9 an easy second overtime and the win.

Team 9 were crowned champions and only losing 2 games all year was very impressive. The playoffs definitely did not disappoint, giving many great games. Congratulations to all NABA players on a fantastic season