Victors exact sweet revenge on old nemesis

By Morissa Lindsay

Pinelands A are just on another level in local basketball and their 72-55 victory against Burger King Clapham Bulls A in the Co-operators General Insurance Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Club Challenge final was evidence of just how top tier they are as a team.

Played at the Barbados Community College on Saturday, Pinelands anchored by the season’s Most Valuable Player Rasheed Maynard, were impressive throughout the tournament and the decisive match was no different as they led 22-19, 40-29 and 55-43 in the first three stanzas.

This was Maynard’s first individual title as a senior player with Pinelands and his late father Ryan ‘Sam’ Maynard, a stalwart of the club and who was instrumental in his basketball upbringing, would have been very proud to see the development his son has made so far in the sport.

During a post-match interview, Maynard who has won crowns for Pinelands at the junior level, said it felt good to lift the Club Challenge trophy. He sees this as the revival of Pinelands senior team who would have lost to Bulls during the 2020 league season and now the tables have turned.

(From left) Tournament’s Most Valuable Player Rasheed Maynard with his mother Alicia Maynard after winning the final against Burger King Clapham Bulls.

“It feels great because I have never won a senior title and this is my first for my family. Also, we were young and waiting for the older guys to get out to start our own legacy because we started from juniors,” said Maynard who was flanked by proud supporters including mother Alicia Maynard.

While Maynard was brilliant and registered 13 points in the final, it was Pinelands forward Deveron Knight and shooting guard Derioni Hurley that top scored with 19 points. The capabilities of Derioni and his older brother Derion are well known, they can score the baskeball. Renico Brewster also had a few eye-catching shots of his own. But it is Knight who has turned into the incredible ‘Hulk’ of local basketball.

If he wasn’t muscling the opponents inside the paint or slam dunking on them during those offensive plays, Knight would be on other end utilizing his height to block and prevent the opposition from scoring and has proven to be a good defensive partner for the experienced Junior Moore.

The competition throughout has been physical and such was the case from as early as the first quarter.

Romain Lovell’s right-handed layup for Bulls, started the game off and after a 7-4 lead, Pinelands coached by Charles Vanderpool and Renaldo Maughn burst away in the scoring department as they defended well and scored. Pinelands moved from what was a one point (8-7) momentum to a whopping 18-7 advantage in the opening quarter.

Senior national point guard Rahiim Gibbons accounted for 18 points for Bulls but he needed others to step up and that is where they fell down big time as a team unable to put the ball away and score effectively. It was as though Bulls and the basket turned into enemies as they just were unable to get the ball through the hoops.

Not discounting the efforts of forward Lovell and point guard Shaquan Newton who both accounted for ten points each in the game as well as Manuel Alleng who did not register many points in the game but poured his heart into Bulls defence along with Andrew Ifill and Tehron King but the fact remains that Pinelands were unstoppable.

If Bulls had scored their chances, then the final may have been a lot more competitive but as the saying goes when you fail to take your chances then be prepared to lose and that is exactly what happened. Bulls’ head coach Ryan Leacock tried his hardest to call as many time outs and strategize but the reality was that hardly anything worked.

The Bulls were definitely having a bad night and Pinelands took advantage when coach Vanderpool brought on a few of his Under-19 players to have a run midway through the exchange. For some unknown reason Bulls failed to protect the ball properly on defence and that also cost them as Pinelands were simply glad for any takings on offer.

Knight would be a dream player for any club in local basketball with his height, speed and athleticism and while he had an ‘okay’ final against Bulls compared to other games in the tournament, he was still unmatched and two gigantic dunks on the night exemplified his prowess on the court.

With just seconds left in the game before the whistles of match referees Rene Batson and Richard Walrond sounded, Knight delivered a draw-dropping dunk to end the final and he competition on an awesome note. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb