FEBRUARY 2007

sports
f t e v i c t o r s t h a n
r r u m i ( l e f t ) o m a s
a o u n i d i i y a m m y
l l o k e a f a a n d
t r i c k n o
l o w l v i n c h e r p o u r
a n d t h a m r r u m i
Le : Th : Na
Ka , Th
Sh , Fa El , Ji
Da , Ze Ar
Pa Yo
Be : Ka Fa
Na Ka
PHOTOS BY DAVID REED
roaring back
Lionheart takes basketball title
BY STEVE STEIN
Patrick Yono’s Lionheart team was an unlikely
champion in the Chaldean Athletic
League’s fall men’s basketball season.
Lionheart didn’t roar much during the regular season.
It went 5-5, losing five of six games to the other
three playoff teams. But the post-season was a different
story. Lionheart won both of its playoff games,
capturing the league title with an exciting 48-46 victory
over Vatos Locos in front of dozens of fans
December 20 at Keller Middle School in Royal Oak.
Vatos Locos was the only playoff team that
Lionheart defeated during the regular season. They
split their two games.
“We had a talented team, but I think we got
complacent during the regular season because we
knew we’d probably make the playoffs,” said Yono,
the Lionheart captain. “We put it together when it
mattered the most, just like the Pittsburgh Steelers
in last year’s NFL playoffs.”
Real Detroit (8-2) and Out of Town (7-3) finished
in front of third-place Lionheart in the regular-season
standings. Vatos Locos (4-6) ended up in
fourth place and earned the final playoff spot. Altar
Boys (3-7) and Death Around the Corner (3-7)
didn’t make the playoffs.
Lionheart and Vatos Locos both pulled off upsets
in the playoff semifinals. Out of Town was sent packing
by Lionheart 65-49 and Vatos Locos went crazy
in a 55-39 win over Real Detroit, setting up a championship
game between the lowest playoff seeds.
Each of the league’s six teams had six players on
its roster. Three Lionheart players averaged in double
figures during the regular season. They were
Nathan Karrumi (21.1 points per game), Fadi Eliya
(13.3) and Zeke Arafat (10.8). Jimmy Dallo,
Thomas Shaouni and Yono rounded out the
Lionheart roster.
While winning the championship was a great
experience, Yono said that’s not what the league is
all about. It’s more about camaraderie, he said.
“You meet guys you probably never would have
met,” the Waterford resident said. “It seems like you
always run into another league player when you go
out, whether you’re with your friends or your family.
Everyone in the league has a mutual respect for
each other and we’re all competitive, so we have
strong common bonds.”
This was the seventh season for the league,
which began in 2004 after a group of about a dozen
friends and family members decided to expand their
pick-up basketball games at Orchard Lake St. Mary
High School into an organized competition.
Weekly league games in fall and winter seasons
were played at Bishop Foley High School in
Madison Heights before Keller became home this
fall. Five teams played in the inaugural league season,
won by Men in Black (Yono was on the roster).
A sixth team was added the following season so
teams wouldn’t have an occasional bye week.
About 40 players are on a waiting list to join the
league, but officials aren’t planning on expansion.
“We’re content with the size of the league. It
almost runs itself,” said Samer Petrous of Oak Park,
a league founder and member of the committee
than runs the league.
Petrous said there’s been talk of the league sponsoring
other sports like flag football, but that’s
unlikely to happen because it would be difficult to
organize and run another competition.
League basketball players are in their 20s and
30s, and many are related.
Clint Shabo won the 3-point shooting contest
held after the Lionheart-Vatos Locos playoff championship
game, beating Keith Hadi 16-15 in the
final round.
For league news and statistics, visit chaldeanathleticleague.com.
For league sponsorship information, call Jamoua at
( 2 4 8 ) 9 3 3 -4 3 7 9 or send an e-mail to esj 9 1 0 @ aol.com.
FEBRUARY 2007 CHALDEAN NEWS 35