SAN JOSE 79, SEATTLE 65
Shershot leads Amigos to Game 1 victory
SAN JOSE -- A 32-point performance by league MVP Jesse Shershot propelled the San Jose Fighting Amigos to a 79-65 Game 1 Finals win.
It was the eigth consecutive victory for San Jose, a team which has not lost since the midway break of the regular season. Spurred by Shershot's 18-point first quarter, the home team delighted its packed house to a 29-point initial period and an 8-point lead they never relinquished.
Seattle hung tough all game long, staying within shouting distance and waiting for the top scoring team in the league to cool down. But the Stampede could muster just 65 points on 50.9 percent shooting. Both teams played above average defense in the game, and truth be told, had Seattle not prevented 16 San Jose points, this would have been a blowout. The Amigos, meanwhile, demonstrated why they were the top team in the league in steals, snatching away 6.
Seattle's rookie guard Wolfie Gutenabend blocked the first two shots of the game by Shershot (one a good trey), after which time Shershot shifted to point guard to get away from his defender and proceeded to burn the nets.
Finals observations: After a season in which the East Division was clearly the stronger of the two, dominating the cross-over games 8-2, this Finals features two West Division clubs. These two teams split their games in the regular season with Seattle winning 76-73 at home (with Carga Larga as POG) and San Jose defending its home court 67-56 (with Shershot as POG).
Points prevented by quarters
Seattle......3...7...4...2 Total=16
San Jose...2...0...4...5 Total=11
Tops in points prevented
1. Wolfie Gutenabend, Seattle...6
2. Jesse Shershot, San Jose...5
Third-year San Jose superstar
JESSE SHERSHOT celebrated his first Finals appearance with a 32-point performance and his second 30-plus game of the Season 49 playoffs (the first being 38 points in his playoff debut). Shershot dominated his man, Potatoes O'Gratin, after shifting from shooting to point guard early in the game. He blazed his way to 18 points in the first quarter after missing his first two treys (netting the next 4 in the period). The 6-5 league MVP had 24 points and 5 treys at the half and 29 and 6 treys after three quarters. He finished with 32 points and 7 3-pointers on 10 of 22 shooting, going 7 for 16 from deep. He was also 5 for 6 from the foul line. He also led everyone in the game in assists, with 4, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 1 steal. Shershot finished second in the game in points prevented with 5. Shershot is averaging over 26 points per game in these playoffs thus far.
Other 20-plus GVP peformers
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Eddie "the Milkman" Creamer of San Jose had a game-long brawl with Charlest Broccoli of Seattle. The 6-9 Milkman scored 19 points, tied for his team's lead in rebounds with 5, tied for game-high in steals with 2 and dished out 2 assists.
-- The other San Jose forward, Lupalin Greenbeard, also had a fina all-around game for the victors, scoring 13 points, ltying for team-high in boards with 5 and game-high in steals with 2 while adding 2 assists and 1 blocked shot.
-- Second-year Seattle forward Charles Broccoli has come on strong in the post-season and was by far his team's best player in this game. The 6-10 Broccoli led Seattle in scoring with 21 points on a perfect 9 for 9 shooting day while hauling in a game-high 10 rebounds. He added 2 assists.
-- Seattle's small forward Cam Caldwell scored 15 points and hit the boards for 8 rebounds, getting an assist and a steal in the loss.
NEXT UP: Moving north up the coast to the Pacific Northwest where Seattle's fans hope their charges can tie up the championship series.
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