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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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Copyright © 2002 Express Publishing Inc.
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For the week of July 30 - August 5, 2003

Sports

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.

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The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.