There aren't many sure things in the valley, but Jivaro Headhunters is close when it comes down to playing in the local "March Madness" cham-pionship game of the Outlaw League men's hoops league.
And Jivaro is trying to com-plete another wire-to-wire un-beaten run as the double elimi-nation tournament draws to a close tonight in Hailey.
A franchise together for the 15th year in 2011, Jivaro (15-0) will be playing in the tourna-ment championship for the 10th time in 11 winters today, Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Campus gym.
Jivaro won the regular-season title of the 10-team league with a 12-0 record and reeled off three tournament victories, including a thrilling 57-54 victory over second-seeded Coeneo (11-4) Sunday.
Coeneo clashed with third-seeded Atkinsons' Mar-ket/Hayden Beverage (12-4) Thursday night to determine which team would advance to challenge Jivaro for the title.
To earn a rematch with Ji-varo, Coeneo had to slow down Atkinsons' sharpshooter Mitch Smith, who averaged 26.8 points per game in the first four Atkinsons' games of the two-and-a-half week tourney.
Meanwhile, 2001-03 and 2008-09 league winner Jivaro Head-hunters will be going for its sixth championship tonight. Jivaro boasted an unbeaten 17-0 season in winning the title in 2008 and repeated in 2009 before dropping last year's title game 63-62 to Growing Concern.
< With its unbeaten campaign in 2008, Jivaro became the sev-enth unbeaten squad in Outlaw League annals. They'll try to become the eighth tonight.
BCRD Men's Basketball League Tournament
TEAM, SEASON REC. RECORD. OFF, AVG. DEF, AVG.
Jivaro Headhunters (12-0) Mar-00 186 (62.0) 140 (46.7)
Coeneo (9-3) 1-Feb 176 (58.7) 145 (48.3)
Atkinsons'/Hayden Bev (9-3). 1-Mar 264 (66.0) 254 (63.5)
Sturges Productions (8-4). 2-Feb 201 (67.0) 213 (71.0)
SV Auto/Growing Concern (3-9) 2-Feb 180 (60.0) 165 (55.0)
Power Engineers (1-11) 2-Jan 130 (43.3) 169 (56.3)
McNamara Company (2-10) 2-Jan 163 (54.3) 174 (58.0)
Wicked Spud/Thornton (5-7) 2-Jan 169 (56.3) 178 (59.3)
Rocky Mtn./Soundwave (8-4) 2-Jan 165 (55.0) 186 (62.0)
Prof. Roof/Home Media (3-9) 0-2 97 (48.5) 107 (53.5)
Jivaro Headhunters 57-54 over Coe-neo (Adrian Charbonnet 12, Papas 18)
Coeneo 55-44 over Wicked Spud/Thornton Heating (Papas 25, Greg Edwards 13)
Jivaro Headhunters 66-34 over Rocky Mt./Soundwave (Stephen Vouch 25, Sean Johnson 8)
Atkinsons'/Hayden Bev. 81-74 over Sturges Productions (Mitch Smith 27, Mike Bellamy 26)
Sturges Productions 69-60 over Wicked Spud/Thornton (Mike Bellamy 27, Greg Edwards 25)
Atkinsons'/Hayden Bev. 62-59 over Rocky Mt./Soundwave (Mitch Smith 19, David Morgan 21)
Atkinsons'/Hayden Bev. 67-56 over McNamara Co. (Mitch Smith 37, Mar-shall Turner 19)
Sturges Productions won by forfeit over SV Auto Club/Growing Concern
UPCOMING GAMES (at The Commu-nity Campus, Hailey)
THURSDAY, MARCH 17 (semi-final game, not included in results)
7:30 p.m. Coeneo vs. Atkinsons' Market/Hayden Beverage
FRIDAY, MARCH 18 (championship game)
7:30 p.m. Winner of Coeneo-Atkinsons' vs. Jivaro Headhunters
