Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! Just wanted to refresh this article with some additional info, including updated ABL Fall League registration deadlines and league start dates for Softball, Flag Football, Basketball and Bar Shuffleboard.
MEN'S & COED FALL SOFTBALL LEAGUE starts the week of August 19th. Team registration deadline is August 12th. Games in Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Essex, Monmouth, Ocean. Register here
MEN'S FALL FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE starts the week of September 10th. Team registration deadline is September 1st. Games in Hoboken. Register here
MEN'S FALL BASKETBALL LEAGUE starts the week of September 18th. Individual & Team registration deadline is September 10th. Games in Jersey City. Register here
FALL BAR SHUFFLEBOARD LEAGUE starts the week of September 27th. Team registration deadline is September 20th. Games in Hoboken/NYC. Register here
For details and info, or to reserve a spot in one of our Fall leagues, just complete the online registration.
***Free Agents - we are only accepting Individual Registrations for our Fall Hoops League - if you are flying solo and want to play Fall Softball, Flag Football, or Shuffle, just post up your info on our Free Agent Database at https://www.joinabl.com/freeagent - maybe you'll get picked up by a team in need of your skills!
Fall Ball will be here before you know it - be sure to lock in your spot NOW to guarantee your spot. We'll see you out there!
MARCH 20, 2018 -- Attention all members - We have a few spring league deadlines approaching on the ABL calendar, so we wanted to update you on some important dates.
If you're the team captain, please be sure to register your team with at least a deposit. Thanks - looking forward to an awesome spring season!
It may not have been quite the season that they had planned, but the result was still the same. Congratulations to The Wolfpack for their second straight championship! After hitting a late season skid, they would come together at just the right time for their playoff push. Having just snuck into the playoffs with help, they showed their resilience in knocking out the top two seeds in the division. It was far from easy though, as the championship matchup with Alligators took two overtimes to decide.
Both teams started out of the gate a bit slower than usual. Alex Bially of Alligators came out firing though and carried his team early with 8 points in the half. Mike Lennon took over later in the period and finished the half at 9 points, with the two teammates combining for 17 of the team’s 21 points. This was good enough for a 3 point lead into the break. The aggressive play from Josh Heyer and Anthony Lawrence of The Wolfpack is what kept the score close. They were clearly in attack mode in this one, and David Wiggins came through with a pair of big shots for them as well.
Facing a small deficit, The Wolfpack came out of the half on fire. Heyer continued his aggressive play and led the offense with 4 assists, 6 total. Lawrence also didn’t slow down, finishing the game at 9 points and 9 boards and added a block. However, it was The Wolfpack’s Martin Gumowski that stole the show for a good stretch in the second period. In that time, he would account for 7 straight points and dominated the Alligators’ defense, finishing the game with 11 points, 2 steals, and 6 rebounds. The Wolfpack gave the Alligators offense fits with their stifling zone defense and took the lead, seemingly having this one in hand.
The strong first half carried over for Alligator’s Alex Bially, who would finish with a game high 15 points. Lennon was distributing the ball well and found his teammates for some big open 3’s to get themselves back into the game. There were some missed opportunities here, but also some really clutch play by both teams. With under 30 seconds remaining and down 4, the ball was kept alive long enough for Lennon to find Bill Leonard in the corner for 3. Leonard would follow with a quick steal of the inbounds pass and returned the favor to Lennon, who hit the go ahead 2-pointer with little time to spare and a 1-point lead. With no reservations, Josh Heyer got the ball for The Wolfpack and drained the clutch two with under 10 seconds to go, taking back the 1 point lead that looked like it would seal the deal. However, Alex Bially would get his defender in the air and draw the shooting foul with just a few ticks remaining. Nearly a 3 shot foul, he would have his foot on the line and nail his second of two free throws. This one was going to overtime.
The two teams exchanged blows in the first OT, and after Rob Howe of Alligators hit two huge free throws, this one was going to a second overtime for a decision. Scores for the Wolfpack in OT came from Gumowski, Heyer, and Dave Smith, whose energy late in this game played a huge role in determining the outcome. This would be just good enough for The Wolfpack to squeak by with a 2-point championship victory.
While we recognize their great team achievement, let’s also acknowledge some individual performers for the champs over the course of the season. More on Josh Heyer to come. Anthony Lawrence finished the season as the team’s leading rebounder (8th in the league) and was The Wolfpack’s second leading scorer (top 20 in the league). Jeff Peragallo was the team’s 3rd leading scorer, finished second in assists (15th overall), and the leader in steals (4th league-wide). David Wiggins held The Wolfpack’s lead in blocks, which was good enough for a tie for 4th in the league, despite playing in just 7 games. Add in high energy, do-everything guys like Dave Smith and Martin Gumowski and you have the recipe for a championship caliber and winning team.
Credit both teams for showing a ton of heart and coming away with clutch play after clutch play. It was a shame to see one of these teams lose, but there could only be one champion. It was a bit of a bumpy road, but The Wolfpack successfully retained their crown. Congratulations to the Kristaps Porzingis Division Champions!
