Wrapcity takes the Ultimate prize
Tournament wraps frisbee season
The podiums have been mounted, the anthems
sung: this year’s Ultimate Championship has come to a close.
Saturday’s championship game at Ketchum’s
Atkinson Park pitted #2-ranked Wrapcity against #1Board Bin.
The skies cleared for the game and the
players geared up for the battle to 15 points. In the end, Wrapcity (5-3)
defeated Board Bin (6-2) and won the championship by a score of 15-10.
John Kearney Jr. (left) zeroes in on the disc as Paris Nicholson closes
in on the play during Saturday’s Ultimate tournament in Ketchum. Express
photo by Willy Cook
It was only a week ago that Board Bin, an
unbeatable machine for most of the season, was upset by Wrapcity.
So in Saturday’s championship game, The
Bin was looking to avenge that loss.
Board Bin came out strong taking a quick
3-1 lead and showing why they were still ranked #1. Quick strikes by Eric Rogers
and Mike McDevitt gave The Bin the edge.
But as so often happens on the high-paced
Ultimate field, momentum changed faster than the weekend’s stormy weather.
Wrapcity’s Alex LaChance and Jacob Thomas
combined for an epic play accurately known in Ultimate circles as "The
Greatest."
As LaChance zeroed-in on a long throw to
the deep end zone, he realized that he would not be able to make the catch and
land inbounds.
Either thinking quickly or acting on pure
athletic instinct, LaChance soared high into the air, snagged the disc and in
one fluid motion tossed it softly back to an expectant Thomas. LaChance ended 10
feet out of bounds, but Thomas had made the clutch snatch and "The Greatest"
goal was official.
Buoyed by these acrobatics, a strong
offense anchored by Patrick Hickey and Christl Holzl, and calm consistent
upfield advances, The City rolled off 7 of the next 9 points to take an 8-5 lead
at the half.
At half time, Board Bin did some soul
searching and came out with renewed intensity.
Mike Payne (left) and Steve Hogan stalk the Frisbee. Express photo by
Willy Cook
But by this point fatigue was becoming
evident on both sides of the disc and sloppy play forced by tenacious man-on-man
defense resulted in several points on turnovers.
In the midst of the growing chaos The Bin
narrowed the gap to 12-10 behind the steadfast play of Louise Kellogg and
McDevitt.
With a breeze picking up, The Bin changed
to a zone defense hoping the new look would confuse Wrapcity.
Not this time. Not this City.
On two quick passes, Wrapcity got the disc
into the hands of John Bailey who spotted teammate Paris Nicholson in the end
zone and sent a hard backhand his way.
Joel Mallet was the deep defender for
Board Bin in the endzone and locked onto the incoming pass with his closing
speed. Nicholson and Mallet jumped at the same time, seeing nothing but the
floating disc. The two collided in midair and crumpled to ground in one heap of
exhausted humanity.
But when the dust settled, the disc was
clutched firmly in the intended receiver’s hand. Goal! Wrapcity’s Nicholson was
the victor and his team had a 13-10 lead.
With a final twist of the dagger, The City
scored the next two points and took the championship 15-10.
In the first semi-final games on Saturday,
#4-seeded KB’s (2-5) surprised Board Bin by actually holding things together
long enough to make a game of it. But Board Bin eventually prevailed 11-9.
In the other first-round game, Wrapcity
came out strong and held on to its lead for the 11-8 win over Grumpy’s (2-5).
Last Tuesday saw the last regular-season
games.
Grumpy’s lost to Board Bin 13-10. The
other game saw a feisty KB’s, angered by a season of disrespect and ridicule,
beat their nemesis Wrapcity by a score of 13-8. And for that one day, KB’s was
the tighter wrap.
The Ultimate Summer League is over, but
pick-up games will continue to be held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. on the
upper field at the Ketchum’s Atkinson Park.
New players are still welcome. Call Scott
at 788-1183 for more information.