Antawn “Anti-Freeze” Dobie at Nike TOC. (photo. Kyle Henry)

The summer basketball season came to a close Saturday night with the end of the Nike Tournament of Champions. New York City basketball brass and common folks alike all came out to Goat Park (99th and Amsterdam Ave.) to see one team be crowned the champion of the summer.

Nike over did it with their hospitality, as the event was free of charge. Those in attendance were blessed with great basketball, grub and music; which was provided by DJ Webstar.

The first semi-final saw Antawn “Anti-Freeze” Dobie score a TOC record 44 points, as he led Money Train to an upset victory over PDG Queensbridge. Pro City MVP Ron Artest didn’t suit up for QB and it showed down the stretch when they needed big baskets. Darryl “Showtime” Hill (28 points) and Alexis “Flex” Foyle (27 points), did their best to keep QB in it but Money Train’s backcourt tandem of Anti-Freeze and Jason “J-Hi” McLeish (31 points) was just too much, as Money Train won 115-102.

Showtime has the best handle on the circuit. In the first half he put on a dribbling exhibition that was live-er than Andy Garcia’s from the better basketball videos. No one could have stated it better than DDN/Sean Bell coach Lil Rah, “He ain’t the one you want to be running up on.”

Anti-Freeze started this contest a bit cold, missing shots that he usually makes. When it was take-over time he did just that. He is usually the smallest on the court when he plays, but he gets to the cup whenever he wants to and if the jumper is working, fugghedaboutit!

In the second semi-final X-Men dropped Bingo’s All-stars 108-94. This was a tight contest from the jump but 2008 Summer Player of the Year, Mike “King of New York” Campbell (26 points) and his crew turned it up in the second-half and dispatched of the squad from Dyckman. Tommie Eddie and Raphael Edwards scored 23 and 20 points respectively. Mike Glover led Bingo’s with 32 points and Kenny Satterfield added 24.

In the championship, X-Men looked to be on their way to an L, when Anti-Freeze got hot again. Money Train led by as many as 14 points with just over 12 minutes left in the contest. X-Men made their run and took the lead on two freebies by Campbell with 58 seconds to go. With the clock running down and the X-Men holding an 88-85 lead, Money Train guard LaRon Mapp drilled a trey from the right baseline to send the game into OT.

With the sun just about gone and only a small park lamp providing light, Greg Plummer (18 points) scored two quick baskets to give X-Men a 92-88 cushion to start the overtime period. Money Train ran out of gas down the stretch and succumbed to X-Men 97-94. Campbell scored a team-high 22 points for the winners. Cory Underwood tallied 21 for Money Train.

Anti-Freeze equaled his semi-final total of 44 points in the championship game. He put in one of the best back-to-back game performances ever, a total of 88 points in two games on the biggest stage. When he gets it going it’s hard to slow him down. Also, word on the street is that he might be running with the X-Men squad next season.

With all that has happened this summer, Artest, Homicide and Beasley stealing the show at Pro City, Money Train coming from behind to take Tri-State and X-Men finally getting the chip at West 4th, imagine what’s in store for us in the summer of 2009. I can’t wait.