Dallas, LWSRA To Meet In NWBA Military Division Final
In its first year as a National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Military Division team, the Dallas Wheelchair Mavs are headed to the division’s title game. And first-year Military Division and Dallas player Christopher Pettway couldn’t be happier.
No. 4-seeded Dallas dominated the final three quarters of its game against No. 1-seeded Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch (WWAR) in a 72-36 rout in a Saturday semifinal game at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Dallas, which has many players from last year’s championship San Antonio Grunts team, features players from all over the Texas area.
A 54-year-old Army veteran, Pettway is a San Antonio resident who’s played for the NWBA’s San Antonio ParaSport Spurs for more than a decade. He was listed on last year’s Grunts roster but didn’t travel to the NWBA Military Division Tournament. This year, his team stayed undefeated (4-0) and advanced to the championship game.
“It’s fun, I like it, it’s good competition. It’s a good time,” says Pettway, who served from 1992-2009 as a mechanic and is a bi-lateral amputee after sustaining injuries in a motorcycle accident in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2007.
Dallas will take on the No. 6-seeded Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks, who overcame a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to rally for a 53-49 win over the No. 7-seeded Colorado Silverbacks in Saturday’s other semifinal. The two teams will meet at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Eric Rodriguez and Anthony Pone provided the big lift late. Leading 46-45 with less than 2 minutes to play, Pone grabbed a defensive rebound and launched a long outlet pass to a streaking Rodriguez, who scored a layup to put the Hawks up three with 1:29 remaining.
“We’ve practiced and we play against each other a lot. So, we kind of know each other’s game, and he knows that I’m pretty quick, especially in the open court,” Rodriguez says of Pone.
After the Silverbacks cut the deficit to 48-47 with 1 minute left, Pone scored on a rebound putback to put the Hawks up 50-47 with 47 seconds to go. LWSRA’s Keith Cooper got a steal and passed the ball to Rodriguez, who hit two free throws to extend the lead to 52-47 with 38.3 seconds remaining.
Colorado’s Colton Grimm made a basket to cut the deficit to three points with 30 seconds remaining, but Pone made 1-of-2 free throw attempts with 25 seconds remaining and the Hawks held on.
A Marine Corps veteran, Rodriguez served from 2000-2013 as a field radio operator. He was injured Jan. 27, 2011, from an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan and is a right below-the-knee amputee and also had his left leg reconstructed, a right ulna fracture in his hand and got hit with shrapnel to the face.
Rodriguez started playing wheelchair basketball in late 2013 at the Warrior Games. This year marked playing in hist first NWBA Military Division Tournament. He likes what the NWBA is doing with the Military Division, which features eight teams this time and says wheelchair basketball could be an outlet for veterans.
“It’s unique. You know, it kind of takes me back to the Warrior Games, back in the days,” Rodriguez says.
Dallas defeated LWSRA, 55-48, in an earlier Saturday pool play game. Pettway says the Wheelchair Mavs know what to do on Sunday.
“Settle down. Just do what we’ve been doing. Like I said, we’ve got a pretty good squad,” he says.
Arizona, WASA To Face Off In NWBA Women’s Division Title Game
The No. 1-ranked Arizona Storm are back in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Women’s Tournament final to defend their crown.
They’ll get a new opponent in this year’s championship— but one who’s all too familiar to them and at bringing titles home — the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) Marquette Eagles.
The top seed, Arizona defeated the No. 4-seeded Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks, 67-43, in one Saturday afternoon semifinal at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Meanwhile, No. 3-seeded WASA barely hung on for a 68-65 victory after a late comeback attempt by the No. 2-seeded Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets. They’ll play each other at noon Sunday.
Arizona rolled to its victory, taking a double-digit lead later in the first quarter and didn’t look
back against LWSRA. After beating WASA by eight points in the team’s opening tournament 8 a.m. game Friday morning, the Storm won the rest of their three games by double-digits.
“I’m sure both teams will be happy to sleep in a little later than that,” says Arizona coach Karl Yares.
WASA had a much tighter game and nearly led a 17-point fourth-quarter lead slip away.
WASA led 58-41 after three quarters before Charlotte rallied to cut the deficit to just 64-61 with less than 3 minutes and 45 seconds remaining.
Four-time Paralympian Becca Murray put the Marquette Eagles up 68-61, by hitting a pair of free throws with 2:22 left. Turns out, it was just enough.
Charlotte’s Candice Law made an inside basket and then Paralympian Abby Dunkin added a basket to trim the deficit to 68-65 with 1:01 left. The Rollin’ Hornets had four four scoring chances inside the final 20 seconds, but two-time Paralympian Lindsey Zurbrugg and Dunkin each missed 3-pointers and Brittany Gustafson missed two putback attempts.
WASA coach Amy Spangler says the Marquette Eagles finally played to their strengths Saturday, though, they survived. She says they can’t have long scoring droughts like they did against Arizona. The last time the two teams played, WASA trailed 10-0 after the first eight minutes.
“We need to get off to a quicker start,” Spangler says. “We need to be confident in our shooting and we need to hopefully not have the big, long multi-minute droughts. That’s what happened at the fourth quarter of this game.”
Yares says the Storm have to close out and do a good job on keeping WASA’s top three — five-timer Paralympians Natalie Schneider and Christina Schwab, along with Murray.
“We know that Natalie Schneider, she is a threat that we must attend to. Becca Murray has a shot that must be jumped before she even catches it. And they’re surrounded by great players. Christina Schwab, she’s not to be ignored,” Yares says. “We feel like if we can focus on those guys and limit them, pieces will all fall into place.”
After missing last year’s Women’s Division tournament final, WASA returns. And Spangler hopes they can get revenge against Arizona from earlier.
“So, our goal was to get there. And now we get a rematch against Arizona, who is the defending champs and who beat us yesterday. So, playing out like we wanted it to,” Spangler says.
NWBA Championship Series Military Division Tournament
April 11
Pool Play
No. 3 ParaSport Spokane 45, No. 5 Charlotte Rollin ‘Hornets 42
No. 7 Colorado Silverbacks 56, No. 1 Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch 38
No. 4 Dallas Wheelchair Mavs 55, No. 6 Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks 48
No. 8 Kansas City (KC) Ethos 59, No. 2 NMSCD Wolfpack 53
Seventh-Place Game
No. 2 NMSCD Wolfpack 55, No. 5 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 38
Fifth-Place Game
No. 8 Kansas City (KC) Ethos 64, No. 3 ParaSport Spokane 35
Semifinals
No. 6 Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks 49,
No. 7 Colorado Silverbacks 43
No. 4 Dallas Wheelchair Mavs 72, No. 1 Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch 36
NWBA Championship Series Women’s Division Tournament
April 11
Pool Play
Upper Bracket
No. 1 Arizona Storm 47, Mary Free Bed 28
No. 2 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 55, No. 8 Bay Area and Outreach Program (BORP) Meteorites 30
Lower Bracket
No. 9 PNW Reign 44, No. 12 ParaSport Spokane 17
No. 10 Ability360 Phoenix Mercury 44, No. 13 Adaptive Sports Ohio Cleveland Lady Cavs 39
13th-Place Game
No. 13 Adaptive Sports Ohio Cleveland Lady Cavs 49, No. 12 ParaSport Spokane 20
Seventh-Place Game
No. 7 Mary Free Bed 34, No. 8 Bay Area And Outreach Program (BORP) Meteorites 31
Fifth-Place Game
No. 6 Angel City 39, No. 5 Lakeshore Lightning 34
Semifinals
No. 1 Arizona Storm 67, No. 4 Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWsSRA) Hawks 43
No. 3 Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) Marquette Eagles 68,
No. 2 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 65
