BY EDWARD de la FUENTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Four weeks, eight regular-season games and two playoff rounds in the GTE Summer Basketball League at Purcell Marian High School have produced for today's 7:30 p.m. championship game a matchup of Bearcats vs. Top Cats.
Re - Max Premier, the No. 2 seed in the league's postseason after going 6-2 in the regular season, boasts eight former UC players, including Ruben Patterson, selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in last month's NBA draft.
But Re - Max will be up against top-seeded McCluskey Chevrolet, a team featuring former XU standout Jeff Massey, the league's most valuable player. McCluskey lost just once during the regular season (7-1), and that was when player - coach John Brannen was on vacation. Though it's a summer league, and most players will say they're playing for the fun of it, but come championship time, the intensity no doubt increases.
"It doesn't matter what anyone says, nobody wants to lose here," said Re - Max Premier's A.D. Jackson, one of the former Bearcats. "I know even if I'm playing against my mother, I still don't want to lose."
"You're dealing with great players here," Brannen said. "There's a pride factor involved here. You win, you've got bragging rights the entire year."
McCluskey already has bragging rights from the teams' regular-season meeting, which it won 101-96. Trailing by 20 at one point, Re - Max rallied but couldn't stop a balanced McCluskey lineup that had five players scoring in double figures.
Tonight, McCluskey's title hopes will depend mainly on its three-point shooting. In Sunday's 87-81 semifinal win over Kuhl's Hot Sport Spot, McCluskey had trouble making outside shots early and fell behind, but once those shots started going in, the team surged ahead. McCluskey's roster is filled with three-point shooters, from leading scorer Massey and NKU alum Shannon Minor to current UC guard Shawn Myrick and Craig Sanders, also from NKU. Even the taller Brannen can and will shoot from long range -- it was his three-pointer that gave McCluskey its final lead against Kuhl's in the last two minutes. Re - Max, meanwhile, will get a boost with the return of ex-Bearcat and current Laker Corie Blount, who hasn't played in either of the team's playoff games but is expected to be present for the final. Re - Max's specialty is scoring inside, mainly through forwards Patterson (the team's leading scorer in the playoffs), Keith LeGree and Erik Martin. Jackson and Tarrance "Rat" Gibson provide the outside shooting and penetration, giving the team plenty of scoring options.
"As long as we have Rat and A.D., we've got a chance to win," Re - Max coach Fred Payne said.
