Intramural basketball has wrapped up another successful season. After 7 weeks of basketball, Jalon Janke Elite took home the trophy.
Their coach, Jalon Janke, is battling lung cancer and the team wanted to bring home the hardware for him. “We play hard for him, we come out here to have fun and win no matter what,” said team member Brady Waddell.
The team went into the playoffs undefeated and was the projected champions of the intramural league. They came into every game prepared and ready to go. their rosters boasts many former basketball players that played at a high level so they have an upper hand on the other teams. In addition to Waddell, the team rosters Eli Mercy, Caiden Comparetto, Austin Flohr, Aiden Jacobs, Braeden Nelson, and Noah Larson.
Mercy says, ”No one could stop us, I think it’s us vs the entire league. Everyone had been waiting for us to lose but it didn’t happen.” Some may say it’s arrogance, others say confidence, it doesn’t matter as long as they can back it up.
Their toughest competition was Jobless Elite, another undefeated team led by team manager Mark Ooton. They were the best competition for JJ elite and were the projected final matchup. JJ Elite had beat almost every team by 15 or more leaving Jobless Elite no room for error.
Team captain Mark Ooton says, “I believe in our team and our ability to win, it has been a great year and I think the whole season has been preparing for this. No matter what happens it has been a great season”. The team was ready but still always coming to have a good positive time. A key player in Jobless Elite’s rotation, Eiden Perigo, dislocated his shoulder and is in need of surgery so he did not be play in the tournament. That left a big hole for someone to step up; he was a large contributor to the scoring.
There were been many weeks preparing for the Championship, with games being held on early release Fridays and Sundays. Each game had 20 minute halves and self-officiating. Many teams thought they were going to win a very competitive tournament.
Though this season has come to close, it is never too early to get your team ready for next season.
