The Yamhill HighFlyers played the final contest of their nine-game "branding season" on Friday night. DeceptivelyQuick, rapidly becoming the most IBL-y of sports blogs, was in attendance. If you are confused by any of this check out our Q&A with the GM of the franchise. Or just dig through our IBL archives. Thats right, we have IBL archives.
Before we get to the game itself, I feel the need to share with you a slice of a team press release detailing the team's Canadian roadtrip that preceded Friday night's game:
Alberta trip wrap-up: The High Flyers played four games in five days recently against the Edmonton Energy in a “barnstorming tour” throughout Alberta, Canada, which required the team to travel by RV. The Energy are considered by some to be the best team in North America, outside of the NBA. While the High Flyers lost all four games, there were many exciting moments, including Guard Riley Luettgerodt emerging as one of the league’s stars. During the trip, the team faced much adversity, including a break-in into the team’s RV during their first night out of country. General Manager Eric Bailey—“We were up against long odds on this trip, but I was happy with how we fought through it all. We had a 16 hour trip to get to our first game. The team had passports, iPods, CDs, food, and even sneakers stolen from us. A couple key players were unable to make the trip due to passport issues. And we were an expansion team going up against an established, world class organization. But the team stuck together, and I think we grew a lot on the trip. We’re happy to be home and we’re looking forward to seeing our fans once again.”
While local authorites are baffled by this heinous RV robbery, we have seen this before. The Bear Thief is getting more bold and must be stopped. You could be next.
The opponents this time around were the Titans of Vancouver, BC. As in Canada. This doesn't match the novelty appeal of the Japanese team the HighFlyers breezed through in their home debut, but not bad. It did result in a higher quality of basketball, as the final score reflects. (Titans 124, HighFlyers 92 if you're late.)
Jason Hartford, whom we described as looking like "video-game Dirk Nowitzki" against the Japanese fellows, struggled much of the night. If you are curious as to what an off night in the IBL is for Hartford, he had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks at the half. As the game mercifully came to a close, an announcer turned on the PA system and announced two things that made us feel like we were in the right place: 1) Jason Hartford will be returning to Finland to play professionally next season and 2) He was named MVP of said Finnish League. Universes are colliding.
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