A Whitehorse Star Archive story originally published April 20, 1998

Paddlewailers over Short Skirts 8-6, and over the Young Offenders 8-4 to clinch first place.

Derrick looses the ball before being pushed over by Scott

 LEFT - The Young Offenders' Scott Burrell (right) pushes over the Paddlewailers' Derrick Law in the championship game.

Brian winds up for a throw

 LEFT- Brian Bell of the Paddlewailers takes a shot while the Short Skirts' Theresa Landman tries to block with her paddle during a semi-final game.
Paddlewailers Come Out On Top
by Michael Onesi

Despite playing their second game in a row, the Paddlewailers somehow found the energy for a second-half offensive explosion to beat the Young Offenders 8-4 to win the kayak water polo competitive league championship.

The Paddlewailers outscored their younger opponents 6-1 in the final half of play of the championship game at the Lions Pool Friday night.

“We knew that we were going to get tired and the other team would get on us in the beginning,” said the
Paddlewailers’ Brian Bell. “So we wanted to do a lot of fast switches, which we did and that helped us in the end. It gave us a bit of steam.” [CONTINUED BELOW]
Kayak Polo Finals LEFT -
I FOUGHT THE 'LAW' - Derrick Law of the Paddlewailers streches backwards to block a pass by a member (Kevin Daffe) of the Young Offenders team in the kayak water polo league's championship game over the weekend. 

The Paddlewailers went on to win the final 8 - 4.
[CONTINUED FROM ABOVE]

The Paddlewailers beat the Short Skirts 8-6 in the semifinal, they immediately played the championship match.

The Young Offenders advanced to the championship when they beat the Basilisks 11-4 in the first semifinal game Friday night.

Even though the players may have been tired, it didn’t slow down the intensity of the game. Contact is allowed in the competitive kayak league. In Friday’s final, there were more people going under than did on the Titanic. One player, Bob Daffe, accidentally got a paddle slammed in his face.

“Everybody knows everybody. Over the season, we’ve had a bit of a rivalry building and it climaxed here. It was a lot rougher (than usual),” Bell said.

The first half of play was an even battle between the two sides. The Younger Offenders’ Kevin Daffe and the Paddlewailers’ Andy Hyde both opened the scoring by throwing a ball into a square net dangling from the ceiling at opposite ends of the pool.

Adam Scheck, who played net for the Offenders, made some good saves sitting under the net and holding up his paddle to block several shots.

At the end of the half, the Young Offenders had a 3-2 lead. Daffe and Scott Burrell launched in goals for YO, with Jeff O’Farrell collecting the Paddlewailers’ second marker.

O’Farrell set the tone for the second period, scoring 10 seconds into the half to tie the game up 3-3.

Roger Mitchell netted what turned out to be the Young Offenders’ last goal and last lead of the game.

Down 4-3, Bell and Derrick Law tallied two quick goals to give the Paddlewailers a 5-4 edge.

Bell didn’t stop ringing up goals, as he tossed in the next two markers. The second goal saw him get rammed in the ribs with a tip of an opponent’s kayak, but Bell still mustered the energy to hurl the ball into the net.

The Paddlewailers’ Conrad Baumgartner collected his team’s last goal in the final seconds of the game.

The Paddlewailers’ winning team was made up of Brian Bell, Derrick Law, Andy Hyde, Mike Kelly, Conrad Baumgartner and Jeff O’Farrell. 

�1998 The Whitehorse Star