By MONTY WAYLAND
With postseason spots on the line, the Red and Dr. Murray's Israel Basketball League saw pitched battles, and a handful of upsets, leaving anxious spectators anticipating more when the playoffs begin this weekend.
The Chicago Boys and TJ Toolboxes earned spots in the "Red Auerbach Championship Trophy" Sweet 16, with the windy city squad defeating Power Puff, 56-51, while TJ edged Burger's Bar Mevaseret 48-43.
Chicago Boys will face Rain in the first round. Rain's big 61-27 victory over Ike Ben Simon provided momentum for the former, and bumped the latter into the final playoff slot. Ike must now face top-ranked Four in the first round, a team fresh off their 56-46 victory over formerly undefeated Lobos.
The Lev Dawgs used great defense to punch their playoff ticket, with a 44-26 victory Buffalo Lunch Specials. The Lev Dawgs face the dangerous Toronto Shammy's in the first round, while Buffalo will have a bye as the top seed in the Tier-II Championship.
Joining Buffalo in the quest for the All Star Israel Sports Camp Trophy will be Trumanaires, National Loss Consultants, and both victors from a pair of weekend games - the Hapisga Dry Cleaners after a 50-43 defeat of AJ HASC, and Noam Weinberger after its 51-43 upset of Lake Como Pizza.
Other Tier-I first round matches: (2)Lobos vs (15)Wok Tov, (3)Israel at Heart vs (14)Burger's Bar-Mevaseret, (4)Yesod vs (13)Charizards, (6)Chabad Heights vs (11)TJ Toolboxes, (8)David Project - Chickies vs (9)Power Puff.
To see the full playoff brackets visit www.afibasketball.com
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