Peterson intramural basketball playoffs underway Published March 10, 2009 By Walt Johnson CSMNG PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- After a long season of playing to gain a competitive advantage, the competitive and Over-30 intramural basketball playoffs got underway at the Peterson Fitness and Sports Center, Feb. 23. The two teams that finished the regular season as champions of their respective leagues; Headquarters Air Force Space Command (Over-30) and the 21st Force Support Squadron, competitive, will find the road to the playoff title to be just as tough as the fight to win the regular season title. In Over-30 league action, the HQ AFSPC team was the only team in both the Over-30 and competitive leagues to finish the season with an unblemished record. The HQ AFSPC team blitzed through the season with an undefeated record, but there is reason to believe the road to the championship may not be as easy as running up an undefeated regular season. The HQ AFSPC team may have to play the majority of the playoffs without its best player, Lyron Paul, who may be out of state on other commitments. Also, the team that finished second in the league, Detachment 4, Air Force Operation and Test Evaluation Center lost two games this year, both to HQ AFSPC by seven and one point. The AFOTEC team is starting to come together at just the right time and should be more than a threat to win the Over-30 championship. The Over-30 playoffs commenced with the fourth seeded 76th Space Control Squadron meeting the NORAD/NORTHCOM J2 team. In the second game of the opening round, the 21st Force Support Squadron met the AFSPC/Inspector General team. The winner of the 76th SPCS and NORAD/NORTHCOM game was rewarded Feb. 24 with a date with the top seeded and undefeated HQ AFSPC team. The winner of the 21st FSS and AFSPC/IG team met AFOTEC in the second game of the second round playoff matchup. On Feb. 25, the defeated team of the first two games met the defeated team based on the Feb. 24 games to determine the first two teams that would be eliminated from the Over-30 playoffs. The winners of the Feb. 25 games will meet today at noon right after the winner's bracket title game that will be played at 11 a.m. The winner of the winner's bracket game will move on to play for the base championship Mar. 10 at noon against the winner of the noon-time game. If the team that won the loser's bracket title game wins the Mar. 10 contest, the "if" necessary game will be played Mar. 11 at noon to determine the Over-30 base champion. In the competitive league, the difference between first and second place was one game as the 2st FSS team was one game better than the 21st Civil Engineers/Fire Department team. The 21st FSS finished the year 12-2 and the Engineers 11-3. They were clearly the class of the league and although one of the teams will have to play in the loser's bracket eventually, it is expected the two teams will meet Mar. 11 to determine the league champion. The competitive league playoffs began Feb. 23 with the top seeded 21st FSS team facing the fourth seeded 21st Security Forces Squadron. In the second game of the four-team playoff, the second seeded Engineers faced Team Colorado/21st Logistics Readiness Squadron. The winners of that matchup were scheduled to play Wednesday in the winner's bracket finals while the losers were scheduled to meet Wednesday to decide which team would be the first to be eliminated from the tournament. The defeated team of the winner's bracket game will take on the winner of the defeated team's bracket game Monday at 5:30 p.m. for the right to meet the winner of the winner's bracket game for the base championship Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. If the team coming out of the defeated team's bracket wins the 5:30 p.m. game an "if" necessary game will occur at 6:45 p.m. to determine the competitive league base champion.