by Hunter Malin
Two evenly matched teams met for the JBA Young Lawyers Section Spring Law League basketball championship game. Michael Orr led his mighty “Golden O” team onto the floor to face Hunter Malin’s Heekin, Malin & Wenzel three-time defending champion squad.
The HMW squad was sluggish at the beginning as Orr’s squad built an early 11-4 lead. Wanting to add to the degree of difficulty, HMW’s players ignored Hunter’s “can’t fail game plan” and repeatedly left Orr open in the first half….and Orr kept hitting those outside shots.
Despite the sluggish start and unnecessary added degree of difficulty, HMW fought back, tightened up the defense, and on the strength of Taylor King’s savvy set of drives and dimes, HMW finished the first half with a five-point lead.
Neither team could keep the upper hand in the second half as both squads traded good defense with sporadic scoring. However, with a better focus on the “can’t fail game plan,” key blocks by Jarahn Newman and Ed Ronsman, one of those “no, no, no, … yes” three-point makes by Newman, and a pair of late free throws by both Antonio Kirkland and Brandon Allen, HMW pulled out a narrow three-point victory to win the coveted law league hoops championship for a fourth consecutive season.
Most surprising stat of the game? No one was ejected.
As the players left the court, Jarahn and Hunter collaborated on a new jersey design for the HMW squad: “4-peat” on the front and “one for the thumb” on the back.
The bulletin boards are already smoking months before the summer league season begins.