This weekend GCAA will crown winners of their respective intramural playoff divisions with the festivities coming to a close on Championship Monday March 17th at St. Paul's 6:00-7:30. The 5th/6th grade boys, the 5-8 Girls and the 3-4 Girls will all be playing for their championships on Monday evening March 17th while the 3rd grade boys and 4th grade boys championship games will be held Sat March 15th. All GCAA intramural teams participated in this single elimination March Madness season ending tournament. The schedule for the finals is as follows:

* Sat March 15th at St. Paul's

- 3rd Grade Boys 11:00-12:00PM Lakers (5-2-2) vs Celtics (5-2-2)

- 4th Grade Boys 9:00-10:00AM Spurs (3-3-1) vs Nuggets (4-3)

- Mon March 17th at St. Paul's (all games 6:00-7:30PM)

- 5-8 Girls Stars (7-0) vs Sparks (6-1)

- 5th/6th Boys Nets (8-1) vs Celtics (5-4) 3-4 Girls

- Sparks (4-4-1) vs Shock (7-1-1)

A brief recap of each division to date is set forth below:

5th/6th Grade Boys

This 10 team division with 12 man rosters and 30 minute running halves was not for the feint of heart as the fast paced action made 100 combined points per game and overtime games the norm. In one overtime game earlier in the season, the final score was 64-62 and there were 14 three point shots made.

Out of 90 regular season games, there were 14 overtime contests. With the 10 team size of the division, March Madness began in late February with the 7-10 seeds playing off. The 7th seeded Lakers beat the 10th seeded Bulls while the 9th seeded Spurs upset the 8th seeded suns to open the playoffs.

The Spurs then continued the madness with an upset of the first seeded 8-1 Pistons on March 1st. In other March 1st quarter final action, the 4th seeded Celtics defeated the 5th seeded Pacers, the 3rd seeded Nuggets beat the 6th seeded Knicks and the 2nd seeded Nets took care of the 7th seeded Lakers. The the semi-finals took place on March 8th as both games came down to the wire. The Celtics outdueled the Spurs in a hotly contested battle while the Nets eliminated the Nuggets despite an impressive Nuggets late comeback. The Nets (8-1) and Celtics (5-4) are now making last minute preparations for the finals scheduled for March 17th 6:00-7:30 at St. Paul's.

3rd/4th Girls

In the first round of the 3/4 girls playoffs, the Lynx defeated the Stars in a hard fought defensive battle. The stage was then set for March Madness fireworks as the Sparks beat the Fever 12-10 in a thrilling overtime game. Both teams played their best games of the year. It was a hard fought defensive struggle, where every shot was contested. The Fever took a 10-6 lead early in the 2nd half, but the Sparks fought back and tied it up as time ran down to send the game to overtime. In a sudden death overtime that saw every girl from both teams take the court and contribute, the Sparks launched a shot from the foul line that bounced around and fell in, sealing a 12-10 victory and a place in the finals. This well attended basketball event in Garden City saw parents and kids of all ages overflowing on court 1 to watch the rare but scintillating sudden death overtime hoop action. In the second semi-final game, the Shock def. Lynx 15-5 in a controlled game to conserve energy. Both teams played aggressive defense but the Shock prevailed by slowing the tempo and fastbreaking at select times for easy transition layups to overcome the Lynx's smoothering half-court defense. The Shock (7-1-1) and Sparks (4-4-1) are both looking forward the March 17th exciting final at St. Paul's 6:00-7:30.

3rd Grade Boys

The six team 3rd grade boys division was full of excitement with the 12 man roster teams consisting of the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Nets, Nuggets and Spurs. Almost every game came down to the wire as the improvement in each and every player was remarkable. Teamwork was the norm for these boys as they started to play competitive games for the first time. The 3rd grade hoopsters turned their games up a notch for the playoffs as several games ended with buzzer beaters. The Celtics (5-2-2) and Lakers (5-2-2) will

battle it out for the Championship on Sat March 15th at St. Paul's

11:00-12:00.

5th-8th Grade Girls

Participation in this division improved dramatically as 6 teams battled on weekly basis. In early round playoff action, the Fever beat the Sun while the Shock defeated the Lynx. In second round action, the Stars ousted the Shock while the Sparks eliminated the Fever. The finals are now set for Monday March 17th with the 1st seeded Stars (7-0) vs the 2nd seeded Sparks (6-1) scheduled to play at St. Paul's 6:00-7:30.

4th Grade Boys

Throughout our divisions, parity was the standard and the 4th Grade Boys was no exception. Both semi-final games were 2 point thrillers with the Spurs (3-3-1) beating the Knicks (3-4) while the Nuggets (4-3) defeated the Nets (2-5.) In earlier action, the Lakers (5-2), the Pistons (5-2), the Pacers (3-3-1) and the Celtics (2-5) were eliminated. The 3rd seeded Nuggets and 4th seeded Spurs will play in the Championship Saturday March 15th at 9:00AM at St. Paul's.

Thank you to the players, the coaches, the coordinators, the league administrators, the Rec Dept and the schools for making this a very successful GCAA season. Please be on the look out for GCAA updates on basketball and other GCAA sports. GCAA, serving the youth of Garden City since 1955.