NDL PLAYOFFS - Quarterfinal Round

By Kevin McCaskill Jr.

Sunday, June 13th was the start of the NDL Playoffs. NDL stands for Newkirk Draft League. The NDL was started by Eric Newkirk, Springfield native and former athlete at Springfield Central HS. His mission with the NDL is to provide a competitive adult men’s league in Springfield, where every team has a true shot of winning the 🏆.

I missed the B Division games 😢 🤷🏽‍♂️. I did make it in time for all the A Division games 👍🏾.

Here are the recaps of the four A-Division Playoff games from Sunday.

TEAM LOVEJOY vs. TEAM GEE

The game started with a quick flurry of points by Team Gee (TG). They hit a couple of 3s and were ahead 9-2 early in the 1st quarter. Team Lovejoy (TL) began creeping back in the game. TL got a strong performance from former HS of Commerce standout Alex Lovejoy. He hit some tough shots and TL got some easy buckets in transition. The first quarter ended with Team Gee ahead 16-11.

Team Gee opened their lead up in the 2nd quarter. They continued to hit 3s. Team Lovejoy couldn’t put consecutive baskets together. TG was up at halftime 32-24.

TL made a comeback in beginning of the 3rd. They narrowed the lead down to five, 37-32.

That was as close, score-wise, as the game would get. TG maintained their lead until end, winning 55-48.

Team Gee Scorers:

C. Gonzalez - 18 points

T. Nichols - 15 points

J. Johnson - 7 points

C. Prophet - 6 points

M. Booker - 4 points

J. Auston - 3 points

M. Alvarado - 2 points

Team Lovejoy Scorers:

A. Garstka - 13 points

Alex Lovejoy - 12 points

R. Kelly 🎶- 9 points

D. Dade - 7 points

T. Scott - 5 points

J. Pressley - 2 points

TEAM RAY vs. TEAM VAZ

“LLLLLLLLLLLLLets get ready to…”, my bad, wrong sport.

This matchup pitted high school classmates/teammates against each other. Mike Vaz and Ray Carter were two of the better players at The High School of Commerce between 1999-2003.

Vaz is the Team Owner/HeadCoach of TEAM VAZ (TV).

Carter is the Team Owner/Co-HC/Player for TEAM RAY (TR).

Team Vaz led for most of the contest. They have arguably the best player in the NDL - Devonte McCall.

TV led after the 1st quarter 20-14. They were up at halftime, 34-26.

The 3rd quarter got contentious. I don’t know the genesis but 2 players - one on each team - had a light scuffle. Two punches were thrown - one by each player. Each player was ejected from the game. If you were there, you know who the two players are.

The kerfuffle seemed to give TR some new life. They narrowed the halftime deficit of 8 to 6 and outscored TV in the third quarter.

That zap of energy didn’t carry over to the 4th quarter for TR. McCall and former Longmeadow HS ⭐️ John Williams were too much for TR.

TV won 62-49.

Team Vaz Scorers:

Devonte McCall - 15 points

A. King - 12 points

S. Grant - 10 points

John Williams - 9 points

X. Bruce - 7 points

S. Bolden - 4 points

J. Rojas - 2 points

K. Jackson - 1 points

Team Ray Scorers:

J. Johnson - 16 points

Ray Carter - 11 points

X. Cruz & T. Auston - 5 points each

Mike Bosworth - 4 points

J. Rogers, J. Brodie & S. Abdul-Ali - 2 points each

TEAM RBC vs. TEAM OMAR

Team RBC is led by former Putnam ⭐️ Ty Nichols. He is definitely in the running for MVP of the NDL.

RBC was up 22-16 after the 1st quarter. Nichols was getting to the basket with ease. He has a James Harden-ish bounce to his game on offense.

Team Omar made a comeback in the 2nd quarter. Their comeback was fueled by their offense but also by RBC’s inability to score in the second quarter. RBC was ahead by 4 points at half, 33-29.

RBC was too much for Team Omar in the second half. They cruised to victory 68-49.

Team RBC Scorers:

Ty Nichols - 28 points 🔥

K. Lynch - 15 points

J. Bruce - 13 points

K. Monroe - 5 points

Z. Crisafulli & #24 - 3 points

Team Omar Scorers:

M. Rivera - 13 points

Jonathan - 11 points

J. Santos - 10 points

J. Maldonaldo - 9 points

“Meech” - 6 points

BOTTOMLINE SPORTS vs. TEAM VILENTI

The last game of the day was definitely the most competitive game of the four.

Bottomline Sports (BLS) is led by Team Owner and HC Ed Anderson.

Team Vilenti was led on the court by former Springfield Central HS standout Vishay Davis.

Team Vilenti (TVi) was up for a majority of the game. They were ahead by 7 after the first quarter (20-13). They were slightly up at halftime (35-33). After the 3rd quarter, TVi was ahead 48-44.

Even though TVi was ahead for most the contest, they could never separate from BLS. BLS kept the game close by playing good defense and getting “50/50” 🏀.

15 seconds in to the 4th quarter, BLS HC Anderson called a timeout. He wasn’t happy with something and he let the team on the floor hear about it.

Over the next 6 minutes, BLS outscored TVi 7-3 and BLS tied the game at 51.

BLS ended the game on a 13-0 run and sent TVi out of the playoffs 64-51.

Team BLS Scorers:

J. Brown - 21 points

N. Cuevas - 15 points

TC Caldwell - 9 points

M. Brown - 7 points

J. Meade - 4 points

R. Evans - 6 points

Team Vilenti Scorers:

B. Rios - 16 points

M. Petrides - 15 points

M. Mitchell - 7 points

V. Tulloch - 6 points

E. Holt - 4 points

V. Davis - 3 points

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A-Division Semifinal Games @ SECC 6/20/21 are:

BOTTOMLINE SPORTS vs. TEAM VAZ - 3 PM

TEAM RBC vs. TEAM GEE - 4 PM