The Masters Basketball Association, a recreational basketball league, will hold its finals on May 26. Commissioner Charlie Cooper, will be running the event. Cooper created the association at the start of this school year, hoping to replicate the league in his hometown.

“In my town of Harrison we have a rec basketball league, and when I got to Masters there wasn’t something like that… I wanted to try to create a league where everyone could be united and show school spirit and have fun playing basketball during lunch. I’m excited to keep going,” Cooper said.

Initially twelve teams, the finalists have been narrowed down to Pope Star and Bishop Sycamore. Seniors Daniel Medina, Nate Dyott, Aiden Lothian, Dennis Sadrijaj, and Owen Higgins will be playing for Pope Star. Senior Chris Barnaby and Juniors Chris Gatty, Dakota Daniello, Jack Borwick, and Jash Barshay will be playing for Bishop Sycamore.

Playoffs mostly took place during the start of the year, but games were postponed for the winter basketball season to avoid injuries. Delays also came from games being shut down by school administration due to players not wearing masks. Semi-finals and the remaining play offs took place during the spring, with the final game scheduled for Thursday.

Nate Dyott is optimistic about Pope Star’s prospects for the final, saying “We’re mentally prepared, we’re physically prepared; we just need to execute.”

“[Bishop Sycamore’s] got talent, they’ve got respected players, perennial MBA all-stars. It’s a dog-on-dog matchup, we just gotta see. It’s just who wants it more, and at the end of the day we want it more,” he added.

Pope Star’s coach, Amechi Aduba, said, “We’ve grafted, we’ve grinded for so many years. We’ve been having this in the works since 6th grade, me and Nate we’ve been here a while. I’ve known this guy forever and I know he’s talented, I know what he can do. He’s been our best friend these last few games. We’re just gonna need something from everybody, everybody’s gonna have to chip in, everybody’s gonna have to put in the work, we’ve been manifesting this for years. We need to win.”

“I’m looking forward to a big win, can’t wait to go and compete, beat the Pope Stars, and win the first ever championship,” said Bishop Sycamore player Chris Barnaby, “Once you stop Aiden Lothian you kinda stop the whole team.”