Blowouts echo in Premier League Basketball

The painful lopsidedness of the Co-operators General Insurance Barbados Amateur Basketball Association loomed its head once again with two significant blowouts on Friday, with both triumphant teams scoring over 100 points and winning by more than 30.

The biggest margin of victory at the Barbados Community College (BCC) was by the defending champions Burger King Clapham Bulls, despite the mammoth efforts of Rachad Hall of Pinelands. Clapham trounced the Pine 107-63, with Rasheed Maynard and Simeon Maynard top-scoring for the Bulls with 21 points apiece. Derion Hurley added 19 points, five assists, and four steals and Antoine Winter put up 17 points. Andrew Ifill registered the first triple-double for the season with 10 points, 15 rebounds, 12 rebounds and four steals, while Akeem Marsh scored eight points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

That barrage of points and stats was what Hall was up against, as he played the entire 40-minute game to earn 31 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals and two blocks. However, with Pinelands only able to muster seven players for the game, after a mass migration at the end of last season, the battle was a short one. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 27-13 and at halftime, Pinelands were already staring down a 20-point deficit with the board reading 53-30.

Hall, who scored only mid range shots or layups, along with 13 of 15 free throws, had support from Kadeem ‘Eyes’ Brathwaite with 13 points, including three treys and Rory Taylor, who had 10 points. The Bulls calmly pushed down the Pinelands fence in the second half to finish the rout and win by 43 points.

In the second matchup, it was more of the same but the Island Care Ambulance Service & BodyxB Lakers put up more of a fight down the stretch in their 105-71 defeat to the 246 Mobile Shop City United Celtics.

Leading the Celtics with a top performance from beyond the arc was Renico Brewster, shooting over 50% for the night for 22 points, including five three-pointers. Deroni Hurley contributed a double-double of 19 points and 11 assists, while Markahli Downie had 15, Theo Greenidge 14, and Celtic captain Joel Hunte scored 10.

It was a tall order for the Lakers, who lack the offensive firepower and also the young legs that the Celtics bring to the court. City United attempted 59 threes in the game, surpassing their 54 attempts in the previous game. Sinking over 35% of them is what helps to catapult their scoring to another level. Veteran and former national player Keefe Birkett turned on the jets in the second half for the Lakers to cut the lead but the hill was way too steep to climb.

At halftime, the scoreline was 63-19, as the Lakers only managed six points in the second quarter. The push and sharp shooting by Birkett, good pace in transition by David Walkes, and a couple of dunks by Primus ‘Optimus’ Walrond brought some fight to a rather one-sided game. By the end of the third, it was 86-42 before they cut the lead to almost 30. Birkett finished with 27 points with five threes, while Walkes and Walrond scored 14 and 13 points respectively. (AS)