Since December until just recently, inexperienced freshman to senior students at Ramapo have gathered at Wyckoff’s Lincoln Elementary School to play basketball and compete for the title of FLOW Rec League Champion.
Ten chosen captains were put in order to draft their players (out of 100), leaving 10 players to be on each team. The teams represented colleges: Gonzaga, Texas Christian University (TCU), Duke, Kansas State, Florida State, Wake Forest, University of Maryland, University of Indiana, Clemson, and University of Iowa. A coach was picked for each team as well. Predictions were made on different top player nominations, as well as the team thought to win it all: Duke.
Five games were played each week, and after week eight, the teams who made the playoffs were announced. Wake Forest and Kansas State were eliminated from the playoff contention. Although playoffs would not start until after week nine, that week’s games were crucial for seeding. Duke, expectantly, was the #1 seed. For the semi-final, it was Indiana vs. Duke and Maryland vs. Gonzaga. After these close games ending 38-32 and 33-30, it was Duke playing against Gonzaga (the #3 seed).
Following Casey Grusser’s amazing rendition of the national anthem (which can be found on the public Instagram page), Duke and Gonzaga faced off. Duke (undefeated at this point) was led by captain Braden Macke, Stephen Whooley (the league’s MVP), and Marco Gualda (coach of the year). Captain Dylan Rosano, defensive player of the year Tommy Arone, and coach Charlie Ruebenacker led Gonzaga. The game was fast-paced and close throughout, with a large crowd watching, live commentary, and even in-game music. The score ended in 56-48 with Gonzaga pulling off the upset.
Students would follow the Instagram page and watch as teams posted about one another tauntingly, whether it be embarrassing photos of the captains or (obviously) photoshopped pictures of other players. Teams would even write messages on the whiteboards in some classrooms. “I never heard of FLOW Rec League until this year,” says Ms. Gregory, psychology and history teacher. “But what I can say is that it has definitely taken the district by storm!” This only grew the tension between each team and encouraged the Ramapo student body to watch and see who would come out on top and appear at the games in excitement.
“My favorite memories from the league were actually off the court,” says senior Connor Pane, captain of the Clemson team. While we were a group of uncoordinated and unskilled basketball players — there was a reason none of us played basketball players — for a short period of time our little league was the talk of the town. Through our social media, we had Ramapo students, parents, and teachers following closely and we were generating up to 3000+ accounts reached per post.”
This year, the FLOW Rec League tournament was nothing but fun and exciting for not only the spectators, but the players as well. Connor comments, “As we got closer to the end of our season, you could really see the bond we had all created with one another. It didn’t matter if you were a freshman or senior, we all have become close with one another and we will all continue to be a friendly face in the hallway for each other, even after the season has concluded.”
The Rec League this year has undeniably been an entertaining watch. As seniors graduate and roles are filled, we can only wait to see what the tournament will be like next year. But there is one thing that can be guaranteed: there will be great competition, great basketball, and even greater memories.
