Pinelands unseats Bulls to claim Premier League crown

By André Springer

The Co-operators General Insurance Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) Premier League crown now rests with the Pinelands Basketball Club after they defeated the defending champs, the Burger King Clapham Bulls, 89-80, in the deciding Game 5 on Saturday night.

Leading the charge was the finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Deroni Hurley, who guided Pinelands through the physical and practically evenly matched championship series to win his first premier league title. Hurley commanded the ball, marshalling his troops into the correct positions to adjust to an always adapting defense. He finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and only turned over the ball twice in the full 40 minutes of play.

Pinelands jumped out to a brisk 10-0 lead to start the decider and never looked back, keeping the Bulls corralled for most of the matchup. The score at the end of the first quarter was 22-13 and at halftime, read 45-34.

[caption id="attachment_394283" align="alignnone" width="530"] The Battle in the Paint: Akeem Marsh of the Burger King Clapham Bulls goes up for two of his game high 36 points against Pine’s Deveron Knight.[/caption]  

The challengers were playing to their strengths and attacking veteran and senior national player Akeem Marsh and forward Kemar Benn in the pick and roll. The two Clapham players had been finding difficulty in defending the play and it allowed Deveron Knight of the Pine to score easily under the basket. Pinelands’ Rachad Hall also made his presence felt, taking advantage of Bulls point guard Simeon Maynard in the paint. Hall finished with nine points in the game.

Facing a blowout, Clapham fought back early in the third, with Marsh going to work in the key and the guards pushing the pace. The defending champs were able to lock the score and then take the lead 53-54 with five minutes left in the third quarter. That run, a seven-point unanswered blast by the Bulls was inspiring but seemed to gas the side.

Pinelands were not phased after the Clapham run and maintained a three-possession lead for most of the fourth. Marsh put it all on the line, but he was fighting a losing battle down the stretch. The Bulls missed key jumpers in the dying minutes and were forced to foul to stop the clock. Pinelands showed no fear, icing the game from the free throw line.

Clapham failed to capitalise on two of their biggest advantages, a former semi-pro player in Akeem Marsh, who is unstoppable in the paint against all defenders. The effort to get the senior national forward the ball was paltry and the poor passing caused Marsh to receive the ball too far from the basket or the pass was picked off by defenders. The other advantage the Bulls had was that small in stature Deroni Hurley of the Pine played practically the complete game and was never taken advantage of in the paint. Hurley is no slouch of a defender in the key but he was never tested.

Marsh finished with his best figures of the tournament, 36 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three assists, showing that when pushed, he could still score at a high clip. Rahiim Gibbons was efficient from the field with 12 points, while overseas-based players Simeon Maynard and Kyrone Alexander added 13 and 10 points respectively in the loss.

Hurley was backed significantly by Pine forward Deveron Knight. The young, athletic talent brought the energy needed to match Marsh on the inside, scoring 29 points and adding 11 rebounds. Rasheed Maynard stepped up on the defensive end, making scoring hard for Alexander. Maynard scored 15 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

[caption id="attachment_394281" align="alignnone" width="650"] Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Deroni Hurley receives his trophy from Co-operators General Insurance’s Human Resources and Marketing Manager Cheryl Forde.[/caption]

Coach of the Pine, Renaldo Maughn explained that Pinelands had grown complacent, and had to go back to the drawing board after losing two straight games in the series.

“We found ourselves down in the series and we went back to the Pine, and talked but not really practised but decided what we needed to do and we stuck with it. If you check the last two games, we stuck with what we were doing and worked.” said the coach.

Hurley thanked Maughn and his team for giving him the honour of captaining the side and explained that the team was full of fighters and even when they were down 1-2 in the series he knew they could win.

“Some of the guy’s heads were down because we had not lost for the season. Renaldo and Charles Vanderpool, who has been here before, gave us the talk and we lifted our heads. We faced adversity but we pulled through.” said Hurley. (AS)