Warriors Playoff Game Set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The Santa Cruz Warriors will play the Rio Grande Valley Vipers Thursday for the D-League championship, the first of a three-game series. The other two games, if needed, will be in McAllen, Texas.

The Warriors are undefeated in post-season play, having swept the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Austin Toros. The Vipers, second seed in the league, above third-seeded Santa Cruz, also swept their opponents.

You can buy tickets for the last game at www.santacruzbasketball.com. The playoff games will be broadcasted on the CBS sports network on Dish Channel 158 and DirecTV Channel 613. The games in Texas are Saturday at 10 p.m. local time and Monday, April 29, at 5 p.m.

The No. 3 seed Warriors got the first and only game in Santa Cruz because the No. 2 Vipers are the top seed  in the Finals. Game 2 will be Saturday in Hidalgo, Texas, with the third game, if necessary, in the Texas town on Monday, April 29. 

The Vipers, an affiliate of the Houston Rockets, defeated the No. 7 Tulsa 66ers 113-106 on Sunday night in Hidalgo to sweep their semifinal series 2-0. Both the Vipers and Warriors are 4-0 in postseason play. 

Santa Cruz's biggest challenge will be stopping D.J. Kennedy, a 6-6 guard from St. John's who had a triple double (28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) in RGV's latest victory, and Glen Rice, who scored 20 points with four 3-pointers. In the two games in the series, Kennedy scored 47 points. 

The Warriors won the season series from the Vipers 2-1. They lost the first game 131-100 on March 1, won the next night 130-112, both at the Kaiser Arena, and then won in Hildago 103-85 on March 15.