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Costa Mesa Condors 79-13 (0-2)

Fresno Stars 86-6 (2-0)

Game 1 – The Condor-Stars rivalry commences again in a VBA Final for the third time in 4 years.  Each has won a Championship vs the other with this year’s series to ‘settle the score’.  Both teams have ridden their respective stars with a deep supporting cast bench.  Magic and Patrick Ewing, Akeem Olajuwon and  Zeke, and starting support from Alvin Robertson and Jerome Kersey, Rolando Blackman and Harold Pressley and former teammates playing on opposite sides acquired by their respective teams at the trade deadline, Hot Plate Wililams and Kevin McHale.  Also, incredible bench players of Doc Rivers, Charles Oakley, Vinnie Johnson and Cliff Levingston, (who would probably start on other teams). Sold-out Selland Area was buzzing with excitement with the anticipation of the two run-and-gun style teams bringing the action.  The Condors open the game with the first 5 points, but the Stars close the 1st quarter on a 13-4 run to establish a 37-33 lead.  Robertson and Kersey pickup the slack of Ewing and his backup, LaSalle Thompson’s, early foul trouble (2 fouls in the opening 2 minutes, 2 fouls 6minues in, respectively).  Though Costa Mesa was not able to capitalize as Olajuwon got his second with 3 minutes to play in the 1st.  McHale and Isiah Thomas led the visitors with 10 and 8, respectively.  Mid-second period, the Condors go on a 14-6 run to take the lead at 52-50.  The two heavyweights traded baskets until the halftime buzzer with the Condors leading 65-64.  The Selland crowd greets the hometown team with a big cheer to get the team going out of the half.  The Stars respond by breaking out a 13-2 run to go up 10 at 77-67.  The Condors got off the floor from that haymaker and responded with their own run of  7-2 to close out the 3rd to bring the score to a 94-92 Stars lead.  The 4th kept the crowd on the edge of their seats as the teams alternated on mini runs back-and-forth.  With 4 minutes left the Stars take their turn by rattling off a 7-0 run, making it a 126-115 lead with 2.53 left.  The undaunted Costa Mesa squad responds with a 6-0 run of their own. Coach Mark Landhuis yells from the sidelines to double-team Thompson as he receives the ball on the blocks.  Thompson wiggles a pass to knife through the double-team to find Kersey open.  Olajuwon was a step late to block the shot and ended up fouling Kersey – SWISH and ONE!  The Selland crowd goes crazy.  Kersey makes his 6th FT out of 7 to extend the home team’s lead to 129-121.  And that was enough to seal the game, Stars defeat the Condors 133-124. Game MVP award goes to the clutch shot and FT shooting of Kersey who finished the game with 25p 8r to pick up the slack from Ewing getting only 20+ minutes.  Robertson and Rivers contributed both offensively and defensively this game, 26p 13r 4stl but 9to and 21p 7a 5stl off the bench, respectively.  The Condors were led by Thomas’ 23p 12a, McHale with 28p 10r and Olajuwon 28p 12r 4stl 3blk.  In the postgame interview coach Mark Landhuis stated that he thought that his team executed the game plan pretty well, getting the Stars players in foul trouble but the issue was the great defense of Robertson and Rivers to hold the Condor backcourt to a collective 8-42 shooting excluding Zeke’s 8-12.  The two giants will take the day off tomorrow and resume the day after in this powerhouse matchup.

Game 2 – Round 2 Game 2 between the two VBA heavyweights and the Selland Arena is sold out again to witness the battle. This game it is Jerome Kersey and John Williams that get into foul trouble with both riding the pine with 2 each with 8 minutes left to play in the 1st. Patrick Ewing soon followed them to the bench with his own 2 fouls with 5:15 to play in the first. You would think that the Condors would have the Stars right where they want their opponent with their main big men sitting out some of the game in foul trouble. But Fresno kept coming with their reinforcements and finished the quarter on a 15-6 run to take a 42-34 lead. Magic with bench help LaSalle Thompson and Paul Pressey scored 11, 8 and 8 respectively. The visitors were led by Rolando Blackman and Akeem Olajuwon with 11 and 10. Mid-second quarter the Fresno squad started on a 21-6 run to establish a solid 19 point lead at 71-52 with 3:18 left before intermission. But the Condors cut the lead in half before heading to the locker rooms, 77-69. The Stars turned up their fast break machine with the big men in foul trouble by scoring 24 of their points in transition in one half! Coach Landhuis must have had inspirational speech at half as the Costa Mesa club trailed by only 2 to start the 4th quarter, 102-100. Fresno opened the final quarter with a 12-5 run, to establish a 9 point lead. The Condors whittled the lead down several times only to see the home team extend it back. The final ended up sending the home crowd happy with a 140-132 victory over Costa Mesa. Game MVP Magic Johnson was hounded all day by I​siah Thomas​, but despite his turnovers (11!!) had an excellent linescore of 28p 12r 13a 3stl for a triple​-double. The winners had a solid bench performance from Lasalle Thompson with 18p 12r 3a and Pat-Man finishing 15p 9r and didn’t foul out despite the early foul trouble 5. The Condors were led by Blackman’s 34p 6r, Olajuwon’s 18p 7r and McHale’s 30p 6r. The defending Champions are looking good for a three-peat hav​ing captured the first two contests. The Costa Mesa partisan crowd will be waiting to coax a rally from their team.

Game 3 – Costa Mesa jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the first 6 minutes of the game. Fresno slowly worked its way back to tie it at 30-30 until the end of the quarter, when unsung hero Jerome Lane converted a 3-point play at the buzzer to give the Condors a 33-30 lead after one. LaSalle Thompson led Fresno with 9 points, and Isiah scored 8 for Costa Mesa. Early in the second quarter, Akeem Olajuwon picked up his 3rd foul and headed to the bench, but instead of Fresno taking advantage, Costa Mesa had a great quarter, winning it 39-27 to take a 72-57 lead into halftime. Isiah had a brilliant first half, scoring 23. The Condors’ defense also shined, causing 15 Fresno turnovers against just 11 assists. Fresno played better in the 3rd quarter, but Costa Mesa also had a good quarter, extending its lead to 109-91 to enter the fourth. Fresno started the fourth on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to 8 with 9:40 to play. Hope was returning to the Stars, but immediately Patrick Ewing picked up his 5th foul, sending him to the bench. However, Ewing was back in the game just a couple of minutes later, as Fresno needed him if they wanted to come back. Then, with 5:58, Ewing fouled out. At the 5:15 mark and down by 14, Fresno applied full court pressure. The strategy worked, as Fresno went on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 135-132 with 1:37 to play, including Olajuwon picking up his 6th foul at the 3:32 mark. However, Rolando Blackman hit a clutch jump shot with 1:26 remaining to get the Condors’ lead back to 5. Fresno scored to cut the lead to 3 again, but Kevin McHale hit an inside shot with 50 seconds left to play, giving the Condors a 5-point lead, and Fresno could not get any closer, giving the Condors the 143-136 victory. Isiah Thomas was game MVP with 31 points and 9 assists.

Game 4 – This was an amazing game, with 22 lead changes and 18 ties. The biggest lead by either team was 10. Both teams had their fast breaks working (Fresno 34 points on 17-23 shooting and Costa Mesa 39 points on 18-27 shooting). This close affair came down to the fourth quarter, with the score 137-136 for Fresno and 2:36 to play. Then, Patrick Ewing blocked an Akeem Olajuwon shot and Fresno scored on a fast break to take a 3-point lead. At 1:55, Costa Mesa could have retaken the lead, but Vinnie Johnson missed 2 free throws. On the next possession, Fresno went inside to Jerome Kersey, who was matched up against a smaller Rolando Blackman. Blackman fouled Kersey, and Kersey hit the free throws to take a 3-point lead. Fresno decided to try a half-court trap, and Ewing got the steal. At 1:13, Fresno again went to Kersey inside against Isiah Thomas on a switch, and Kersey scored to give Fresno a 5-point lead. At 1:04, Olajuwon scored inside to cut the lead to 3. The next time down the court, Costa Mesa’s defense was very tough. Fresno missed its shot, but Magic got the offensive rebound. He passed up the shot attempt to reset the offense. With 30 seconds left, Magic was fouled and he made the free throws, giving Fresno a 5-point lead, and the Stars held on from there to get the 150-142 win. Magic was the MVP, with 41 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists. For the Condors, Isiah, Akeem, and Blackman all scored 30+.

Game 5 –

Game 6 –

Game 7 –

Series MVP –
pts, asts, rebs, stls