Pelling/Goodfellow upsets top seed to win PTL crown
Posted on 27. Jul, 2010 by admin in Iowa Basketball
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa — Once again, No. 3 L.L. Pelling Company/Goodfellow Printing got a 31-point outing from an Iowa Hawkeye, this time en route to an 82-78 victory over No. 1 Vinton Merchants/Hawkeye Title & Settlement to win the 2010 Prime Time League championship.
But unlike the previous two playoff wins where it was sophomore Eric May going off for 31 points, it was incoming freshman Zach McCabe leading the scoring barrage for Pelling/Goodfellow.
The Sioux City product had 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting Tuesday night inside the North Liberty Community Center, 22 of which came in the first half against Vinton/Hawkeye. May also had a solid outing himself with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field.
“We got shots going a little early, we had rebounds, too,” McCabe said. “Everyone was making shots, everyone was contributing. I thought we just played good as a team, overall.”
Vinton/Hawkeye won the previous meeting between these two teams. But on this night, Pelling/Goodfellow was in command for the bulk of the contest, and carried a 43-34 lead into halftime. Eventually, Vinton/Hawkeye managed to tie the contest at 58-58, but like it has demonstrated all playoffs, Pelling/Goodfellow propelled itself with a second half run to put the game away.
There was a twist right as this championship reached its climax. Pelling/Goodfellow was ahead 80-78 with 18.4 seconds remaining when the game was briefly interrupted by PTL commissioner Randy Larson, who used the platform to announce award-winners for the summer. May was named co-MVPs with incoming Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe, while sophomore Cully Payne and junior Matt Gatens wound up sharing the league’s Chris Street Award.
This break in the action just so happened to occur as May was walking to the charity stripe to shoot two free throws. He missed the first, but made the second to put Pelling/Goodfellow ahead 81-78.
“I guess [Larson] was expecting me to make both,” May said.
However, the fact that it was a one-possession game instead of two made it possible for Vinton/Hawkeye to send the game to overtime with a 3-pointer.
Former UNI guard Ali Farokhmanesh took the last shot for Vinton/Hawkeye, coming up short. Pelling/Goodfellow grabbed the loose ball, and May got a chance to redeem himself, delivering the knockout punch in the game’s final seconds.
Now May, McCabe, and every other Iowa player in this summer’s league will be shifting their focus back to playing for Iowa and doing the necessary things to help the program rebuild.
“I’m excited for the season, but it’s going to come real quick, and there’s still a lot of work to do,” May said.
Former Wayne State product Dallas Hodges led Vinton/Hawkeye in scoring with 28 points, while Farokhmanesh tallied 14. Vinton/Hawkeye was without the services of both former Iowa guard Darryl Moore and current Hawkeye forward Devon Archie.
For footage of Tuesday’s game, click here and here.
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