Sunday night’s Capital City League championship looked like it was over in the first five minutes.

 

Oh how wrong that proved to be.

 

Granite Transformation looked ready to collapse following its 95-86 win against Capital City Orthopaedics in the semifinal game just 15 minutes before the championship. Five and a half minutes into the game, MOHA already had a 27-6 lead it seemed unlikely to relinquish; by halftime MOHA lead 71-41.

 

Perhaps the break gave Granite all the rest it needed, or perhaps the first half drained MOHA of whatever energy it had. But Granite went on a 22-10 run in the second half, and had the game within four points with less than two minutes to play.

 

MOHA still took home the championship, but the second half proved worthwhile for the fans who stuck around.

 

Creighton’s Ryan Sears was named the regular season MVP, while Iowa State freshman Bubu Palo was tabbed as Playoff MVP.

 

Stats from the championship:

 

MOHA: Jamie Vanderbeken (ISU) 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block. Nick Grant (Drake) 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals. Ray Miller (Cal State-Fullerton) 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks. DeAnthony Zanders (SW Minn State) 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal. Bill Freeman (Ellsworth CC) 28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block. Bubu Palo (ISU) 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals.

 

Granite: Josh Young (Drake) 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal. Justin Hamilton (ISU) 25 points, 19 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block. Charles Boozer (ISU) 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. Tyler Egli (UNC-Pembroke)  10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.