Random Walk to Montgomery, Day 5
First, I must express my thanks to the Sweet 16 teams to agree to play both the regional semifinals and finals on the same day to speed things up.
C1 kicking things off in Groton, CT, with a convincing win over C4. C6 got lucky when they caught C3 in Ramstein without three of their best players for violating the team rules against drinking in spite of its legality in Germany; however, back on this side of the Atlantic, they fell back to earth against C2, who cruised to an easy victory. In a thrilling regional final, there were four lead changes in the final minute. The last team with the ball would win, and that proved to be C1, who got a running layup just before the clock expired. Welcome to Montgomery, C1!
The random selection of hosting the South Regional finals was the best thing to ever happen to Soddy-Daisy, TN. Their region is wide open after D9 and D7 knocked off D1 and D2. This trend continued in the first game when D3's center sent what is believed to be the record for most 3-second calls in an NCAA tournament game as D7 pulled another upset. D9 found themselves in a strange situation--the favorite. They wore their home white uniforms because they faced another upsetter in D12. Since a 9 seed and a 12 seen had never played in the regional semifinals, I decided to decide this game with a coin toss. The 1963 Benjamin Franklin half dollar coin floated through the air and came down heads! That means D9 advances to face D7 in the finals. The 7-9 match up was another seed pairing that had never met, and so I again reached for a coin--a 1989 Swiss five fran(c/ken/co) coin. It came up tails this time sending D9 on to the Final Four.
In Bellingham, WA, the West Regional semifinals played to form with B1 and B2 having no troubles with B5 and B6, respectively. Their match up in the finals was a titanic game, long to be remembered by anyone who saw it. B2 hit an 80-foot three pointer at the end of the first half to take a one-point lead. After a back and forth second half they appeared to hit their second shot from the backcourt to give them a one point lead at the buzzer of the game, but the officials reviewed the tape and tragically, the clock expired just before the senior guard could launch the shot. B1 advances to play C1 in Montgomery.
The North Regional in Anchorage thawed the locals. Upstart A10 caught a tough break with the game falling on the Sabboth, which meant their ace 3-point shooter couldn't play. A6's superior inside game carried them into the Elite 8. The day's most shocking result came in the final game when the overall top seed A1, perhaps weary from having to travel to Ramstein and then to Anchoring didn't score in the first five minutes against A5. They picked up the pace in the second have, but A5 held strong and countered every blow to pull the upset. In the 5-6 pairing had only happened once (the 5 won) and so I opted for a coin toss here. My 2000 Canadian toonie came up heads and gave A5 the final berth in the Final Four, setting up an exciting match up with D9.
C1 kicking things off in Groton, CT, with a convincing win over C4. C6 got lucky when they caught C3 in Ramstein without three of their best players for violating the team rules against drinking in spite of its legality in Germany; however, back on this side of the Atlantic, they fell back to earth against C2, who cruised to an easy victory. In a thrilling regional final, there were four lead changes in the final minute. The last team with the ball would win, and that proved to be C1, who got a running layup just before the clock expired. Welcome to Montgomery, C1!
The random selection of hosting the South Regional finals was the best thing to ever happen to Soddy-Daisy, TN. Their region is wide open after D9 and D7 knocked off D1 and D2. This trend continued in the first game when D3's center sent what is believed to be the record for most 3-second calls in an NCAA tournament game as D7 pulled another upset. D9 found themselves in a strange situation--the favorite. They wore their home white uniforms because they faced another upsetter in D12. Since a 9 seed and a 12 seen had never played in the regional semifinals, I decided to decide this game with a coin toss. The 1963 Benjamin Franklin half dollar coin floated through the air and came down heads! That means D9 advances to face D7 in the finals. The 7-9 match up was another seed pairing that had never met, and so I again reached for a coin--a 1989 Swiss five fran(c/ken/co) coin. It came up tails this time sending D9 on to the Final Four.
In Bellingham, WA, the West Regional semifinals played to form with B1 and B2 having no troubles with B5 and B6, respectively. Their match up in the finals was a titanic game, long to be remembered by anyone who saw it. B2 hit an 80-foot three pointer at the end of the first half to take a one-point lead. After a back and forth second half they appeared to hit their second shot from the backcourt to give them a one point lead at the buzzer of the game, but the officials reviewed the tape and tragically, the clock expired just before the senior guard could launch the shot. B1 advances to play C1 in Montgomery.
The North Regional in Anchorage thawed the locals. Upstart A10 caught a tough break with the game falling on the Sabboth, which meant their ace 3-point shooter couldn't play. A6's superior inside game carried them into the Elite 8. The day's most shocking result came in the final game when the overall top seed A1, perhaps weary from having to travel to Ramstein and then to Anchoring didn't score in the first five minutes against A5. They picked up the pace in the second have, but A5 held strong and countered every blow to pull the upset. In the 5-6 pairing had only happened once (the 5 won) and so I opted for a coin toss here. My 2000 Canadian toonie came up heads and gave A5 the final berth in the Final Four, setting up an exciting match up with D9.
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