The Human Highlight Reels were in a state of confusion before their game began two Sundays ago.
Walking onto the big stage of the playoffs, the Highlight Reels were set to face Great 8; yet Great 8 was unavailable to play that night.
The Highlight Reels opening act was then switched to read "versus Paninis - Black".
The Highlight Reels faced this opponent before, winning by more than 10 points earlier in the season. This contest was much closer than that.
The Reels struggled from the floor most of the evening, shooting only 31% from the field all night long (21% from three), and could only manage a tie with their new first round opponent headed into half time.
Paninis did hit a half-court buzzer beater to close out the half, but it was waved off due to the quick thinking of forward Andy Kempf, who took a charge as the shot went up. The referee's deliberated for a minute or so until they decided to wave off the basket.
Thankfully for the Highlight Reels, Kempf had his wits about him at an opportune time.
With the three point lead erased for Paninis, the Highlight Reels locked down a little more on the defensive end and battled harder on the glass, which helped push them to a 53-49 first round victory.
Kempf also led the team on the glass, grabbing 14 rebounds. He has tallied double digit rebounds in six straight contests.
With team leading scorer Brandon Hunter struggling from the field (10 points, 7 rebounds), Jason Hunter stepped up where scoring was needed.
The oldest Hunter brother went 4 of 8 from three and scored 18 points along the way to lead the team. The scoring output from both Hunter brothers will be relied upon in the playoffs if they want to make a deep run.
Justin Woo (4 rebounds) and Chuck Caldwell added 8 points a piece and veteran Kerry Hunter clogged up the middle on the defensive end on his way to 4 points and 3 rebounds.
The Human Highlight Reels will face NBN for their second round game this coming Sunday at 9pm. The Highlight Reels defeated NBN earlier in the year by nine points. Brandon Hunter led the team in both points (21) and rebound (6) in that contest.
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