After multiple seasons of trash talk between the top teams in the Summerlin and Green Valley rec leagues, we finally will get some resolution this season, as the two leagues will combine for an all-Las Vegas rec playoff tournament featuring 14 teams.

While the tournament starts next week, the chaos has already begun, as the game between the Waterboys and Lights Out in the Green Valley Rec League had the feel of March Madness.

Both teams came in with a 5-2 record this season, and the difference between 6-2 and 5-3 would be massive in playoff seeding. That put some extra emphasis onto this regular season finale, and it did not disappoint.

The game came down to the final seconds, as the Waterboys had possession after a timeout with five seconds left, game tied at 73-73. The ball gets inbounded to Alex Epstein on the wing, and right away you can see he’s looking to get the ball to Kyle Dean. In what I assume was a drawn-up play, Dean fakes like he’s running toward Epstein and the ball, and instead cuts back down the lane and toward the hoop. Epstein tosses a great pass into the path of Dean, and Dean does an excellent job of controlling the ball through two defenders, and then shooting right after catching the ball to make sure the shot got off in time. It did, it fell with 0.3 seconds left, and the Waterboys walked away with a 75-73 victory.

The win gives the Waterboys the three-seed in the rec tournament, while the loss drops Lights Out to the seven-seed. This significantly affects their paths to a possible championship run, as the Waterboys get to play the 14-seed Team Hustle in the first round, and in all likelihood the six-seed Team Worldwide in the quarterfinals. Lights Out will now have to play 10-seed Hickory Huskers in the first round, and if they win they’ll face the two-seed Recspekt, the top seed out of Summerlin and the defending Summerlin rec champs.

The turn of the calendar from the regular season into the playoffs also means that Dyme Pieces captain, Nick Lombardo, has turned on the trash talk to remind the rest of Las Vegas rec who has had plenty of playoff success in recent memory.

“Congrats to all the regular season champions! But it’s time to let the main attraction do it’s thing now. We are sincerely looking forward to beating all the “big bad ballers” who think they are championship material. Just remember who these playoffs ALWAYS run through fellas,” Lombardo said in a Facebook comment on the bracket being posted.

The Dyme Pieces earned the four-seed in the tournament, which could possibly put them against The Industry, Houdini and Recspekt on their way to a title. Those teams have a combined seven rec titles between them, but the Dyme Pieces have five of their own, and it’s clear that despite three teams have a higher seed in the tournament, Lombardo believes his team is the one to beat.