marching on
Ah Spring, the bitingly cold mornings, the dry scorching afternoons, a lotta wind and even more pollen. What's not to love? Plenty. As the long, cold nights of winter slowly thaw into pollen swept winds with gusts that suck the soul out of any rational human we search for reasoning during this abomination of seasonal transition. During such harrowing times Homo Sapiens evolved to find solace in element controlled structures. Some time long ago a cave sufficed, maybe a lean-to, a tent, humble dwellings in the form of stacked logs and dirt floors were a sanctuary from the ides of march for our ancestors. Modern comforts have given us a number of new options to pass the pathetic pandemonium that predates the paradise of summer but not before dragging winter's dregs to our doorstep.
Ok, Spring isn't all bad, all the time but what this slight exaggeration gives us is a reason to hole up in a local gym and distract from the cruel elements while over enthusiastically cheering for our local basketball team. At least that's how Illinois High School Association (IHSA) official Henry V. Porter saw it when in response to the excitement buzzing around the Illinois high school state basketball tournament in the third month of the year 1939 he stated; "A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel." Clearly referring to the dismal midwest spring winds causing things to be off kilter. Or it could have been one of a hundred other mishaps going on with Henry, who knows? But what we do know is that phrase was serendipitously spawned in the same year that another little basketball tournament was held for the first time ever. The NCAA Tournament. So jumping ahead 43 years it's no surprise that in March of 1982 CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger referenced the term "March Madness" and it stuck. Eventually being trademarked by IHSA only to have the NCAA fight for a shared split of the trademark in 1996. Crazy. Or just Madness. Regardless it's "insane" that we get high school state tournaments, the NIT (a pretty great tourney), which is only paled in comparison because of the grandeur of the NCAA Tournament, and pre playoff NBA action all in one glorious month. How'd we get so lucky? Anyway, I love Spring. Don't forget to set those clocks forward for DayLight Savings. I can almost smell the warm summer nights already.
Week 20 and Week 1 (35+ league) Recap...I guess this can just be the Weekly Recap moving forward:
Super satisfying week so thanks to all of you participating, supporting and showing out! Monday gave us the final two games of Comp League regular season and no team had more on the line than Degenerates (4-6), who with a win got the bye week or with the loss had to return the next night to stay alive. They came up against a loaded starting five with Team Nuevo (7-3), who always seem to muster up their full squad and full strength this time of season as they edged the Degens 63-60. Nuevo used tough defense and the trio of Dom Baca 18 pts, 6 dimes, Max Suazo 15 pts and Matt Brito 13 pts, 7 rebs, to jump up to 2nd place in the end of season standings. Degenerates got 21 pts, 4 rebs and 6 dimes from Mario Archuleta in the loss.
Game 2 was a formality as neither "bottom of the standings" team had much to gain but boy did Dadbods (2-8) send a message fit for a tailored three piece suit as they trounced Heatwave (3-7) by 34 before mother mercy was permitted to step in. All the Bods were eating this night with Jeremiah "Reezy" Jacquez going for 18 pts, 9 rebs and 8 dimes. David "Spider" Jaramillo splashed his way to 21 pts. Nathaniel Naranjo scarfed down 18 pts and 9 rebs as all five starters hit double figures and even the sixth man netting nine, shout out Jerome Baca, love the way you play dawg. For the "not hot this night" Wave they did get 16 pts and 10 rebs from Jordan Gracia and 16 pts from David Sanchez. Half time score 60-27, final score 93-51.
That set the table for our 2025/26 Winter Comp League Tournament and Game 1 found (10) Dadbods back on the hardwood vs (7) Lethal Injection. Playoff intensity was thick in the air as these two battled to stay relevant. Lethal found success early behind multiple injections of cheddar balls from deep. Hitting everything they loaded in the syringe with Greg Trujillo (22 pts) and Alex Gutierrez (21 pts) going surgical. Jacob Torres-Day was finding his veins with 19 pts and all five players eventually hit double figures. Bods flexed in the second half with Vince Damelio getting aggressive and recording the games only double double with 23 pts and 10 rebs. "Reezy" Jacquez put in 20 pts but not enough as they lost 84-81. Great season Dadbods (and great team name).
Game 2 featured (11) Crazies vs (6) Silent Storm with the Storm jumping to an early lead and holding on 82-72. It was rain, hail and snow personified as Shawn Daniels (24/8/7), Wilford Troup (24/8/6) and Bailey Cabbage (20/5/5) drove the opposition mad doing everything and then some to get the big win. In the loss Q Watts kept shooting through the rough weather for 18 pts and Eric Henriquez bully balled his way to 17 pts and 8 rebs. Thanks for the season Crazies!
Game 3 was a couple familiar teams from Monday night but this time (8) Degenerates were walking away with a win as (9) Heatwave picked a bad week to struggle from deep, where they're normally money. "Super" Mario dropped another mushroom infused effort with 23 pts, 6 rebs and 7 dimes as he led the offense and found Josh DeHerrera early and often for five threes and 17 pts. Heatwave got another good game and 23 pts from Jordan Gracia, while Fidel Gutierrez was hustling like always for his double double of 11 pts and 13 rebs. Thanks for a great season fellas.
On Thursday night Swish kicked off another 35+ League with three contests. Game 1 was between Nothing But Net (0-1) and defending champions 505 Unit (1-0). Unit showed why they hold the crown as they fought off a good Net team behind Mario Montano's 22 pts and Brandon Encinias' 17 pts and 11 rebs. NBN used a balanced attack to stay in the fray with Randal Holmes going for 15 pts, Patrick Trujillo splashing four threes, 14 pts, 6 rebs, 5 dimes and captain Martin Ortiz getting 13 pts and 4 thefts.
Game 2 between IPS (1-0) and Vatos Locos (0-1) was a slow burn as the Acronyms wore down Meeklo and gang to capture a win 80-56. David "Spider" Jaramillo had 33 pts with nine threes and 5 steals. Nathaniel Naranjo was cap sized IYKYK with 20 pts, 17 rebs, 7 dimes and 5 cookies. The Vatos got strong representation by Grayson Vogel and Paul Kirpes, each scoring 17 pts but zero tough looking, colored bandanas.
To finish the weekly action we got to see familiar faces attached to a new team name as Fazo (1-0) dropped their Air Force Ones and an L on Santa Fe Elite (0-1) 67-61. We recognized Matt Brito's game as he led the new configuration with 20 pts and 16 rebs, Tim Aragon added a double trouble with 15 pts and 10 rebs. Bobby Richardson picked up where he left off last season, leading Elite with 13 pts, 5 rebs, 2 dimes and 2 thefts.
What a treat these full weeks are! With one league winding down and another one kicking off we hold fast to the old adage, "Ball Don't Stop," especially in March.
Quick updates:
We continue to have our Monday pick up games from 5-8:30pm so thanks for showing up and showing out. We love offering this FREE service and if any of you are feeling the love and feeling generous we dig getting donations even in the smallest denominations so we make it easy to do so on our website or just click here and go straight to the source.
Also, we believe that everyone, kids and adults alike need space to gather, ball, relax and run. So as we move forward we want to keep doing what we do best, giving hardworking and hard living adults an outlet for hoop. With the limited gym space we have we will continue organizing premium basketball leagues for men and women while looking to open up after school activities for the youngins. But for now we have to scratch the youth league plans. Sorry, if that throws a wrench in the youth hoop land but please know it's on our mind and in our hearts so we will announce when we have gym time for the kiddos. Appreciate the understanding and support!
Enjoy the college hoops, high school state games, NBA pre playoff hype and protect your skin from that Spring seasoning.
Respect the game, Santa Fe Swish
