The V.I. Cruise to Victory in First Playoff Game

After enjoying a bye for the first round of the '07 playoffs, the Village Idiots were matched up against a veteran squad from the other division in the quarterfinals. Danny Dougherty was activated in place of an injured Freddy Paul and he and Tim Byrnes led the Idiots offense up and down the court early and often. It looked like the Idiots were gonna blow this one wide open right off the bat as they were out to a 23-11 lead after the first quarter.

The crafty veterans had too much pride to let things get out of hand, and they slowed the game down in the second quarter, working hard to spread the ball around the famous V.I. 2-3 zone. The Idiots, being the versatile group they are, adjusted and continued to harass whatever offensive attack came their way. Byrnes and Frank Kelly were able to get their hands on a lot of pass attempts and when they didn't big Greg Harrison and Joe Young were able to stuff things up down low. Sharpshooter and Grillmaster Tom Weber drained a number of long distance shots to punish the tiring opponents at the opposite end. Although the blowout was mitigated by the slowed pace, the Idiots did stretch the gap to 16 by halftime.

Things got a little ugly in the second half as the physical play led to frustration on both sides. Missed free throws by the Idiots allowed the other guys to cut the margin down to 9 at one point. Not to fear, V.I. veterans Dan Knipscher and Greg Gormsen hit key shots down the stretch to fend off any upset and this one was in the books as a 48-36 Village Idiots' victory!

If you weren't down at the park for this one, you missed a very tasty tailgate after the game... Chipotle marinated chicken was the featured dish of the night and combined with a few ballpark franks, the V.I. celebrated their first playoff victory in style!

Come down on Monday, August 20th to watch the Idiots continue their quest for a second Town of Hempstead Championship... gametime is 8:45pm!