Lightning season in review
April 7, 2005 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1)
Rockford Lightning News Release
Without a doubt, Rockford Lightning fans were treated to an exciting 2004-05 campaign. With a new look, and a competitive season which included a shot at the CBA's Eastern Conference regular season title, and playing for the CBA championship, the fans weren't disappointed. Battling through injury problems that plagued the Bolts for the majority of the season, and defeating the odds in the playoffs, the Lightning played valiantly, coming short of the ultimate goal of winning the 2005 CBA championship.
Through November and December, the Lightning showed the CBA just how competitive they would be by winning their first seven home games of the regular season. Unfortunately, they did not win a road game until December 23 at Gary, but kept themselves in the Eastern Conference first place race. They also lost fan favorite guard Ronnie Fields to a thumb injury suffered in a home game against Sioux Falls on December 9. The last day that games would count for naming the CBA's Eastern Conference All-Star coach was on January 8, and a string of five victories in seven games for the Bolts cemented Chris Daleo's spot as the bench boss for the 21st Annual CBA All-Star Classic at the Genesis Center in Gary.
Daleo proved that he was the right man for the job, leading the Eastern Conference All-Stars to a 114-110 victory back on January 19. The Lightning then started the second half of the season, going 4-2 for the remainder of the month of January. February was a little tougher for the Bolts, after starting off the month with a 141-135 triple overtime victory over the Gary Steelheads at the Rockford MetroCentre, but finished the month 6-4. The Lightning opened up March winning two of their first three games, including a 123-112 victory at Gary to clinch a spot in the 2005 CBA Playoffs.
The Lightning finished the regular season in second place in the Eastern conference with a record 26-22, and were primed for battle against the Great Lakes Storm in the 2005 Eastern Conference playoffs. As the lowest-seeded team, the Rockford Lightning had no home court advantage, and were without forward Brant Bailey due to injury. They dropped the first two games at the Birch Run Expo Center, 130-127 in overtime in Game One, and 121-112 in Game Two. Rockford stormed back, winning the next two games at the MetroCentre, including a 115-114 overtime thriller in Game Four, in which 2005 CBA All-Defensive team selection Marshall Phillips hit a jumper in the lane at the buzzer to send the series back to Birch Run. Rockford moved on to the 2005 CBA Finals when Brian Lubeck hit three free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining after being fouled by James Head while attempting a three point shot. Rockford won Game Five 105-104, and moved on to face the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the 2005 C! BA Finals.
Rockford and Sioux Falls had split the season series at 2-2, and both teams won on their home floor. The same would hold true in the finals series, as Dave Joerger's Sioux Falls squad captured the first two games at the Sioux Falls Arena. In the first game, the Bolts came up short, narrowly losing 119-112. The second game was an offensive shootout, as a total of 282 points were scored in a 150-132 Skyforce win.
Facing the same situation that they did in the previous playoff series, the Rockford Lightning returned to the MetroCentre needing a win to keep their season alive. Jermaine Walker answered the call for the Lightning, as Rockford's leading scorer lit up the Skyforce defense for 38 points as the Lightning stayed alive by winning Game Three, 116-107. Unfortunately, in Game Four, the Skyforce rallied back to win 135-126, after trailing much of the first half by double-digits to win the 2005 CBA championship.
Overall, after improving on last year's record, and making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since they played for the CBA title in 2002, it's been an exciting season of basketball. Coach Daleo is already on a mission to capture the 2005-06 CBA Championship, and has something to build on after this year's success.
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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from April 7, 2005
- Lightning season in review - Rockford Lightning
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