Pinelands and Cavs to contest final

The stage is set and it will be Station Hill Cavaliers taking on the monumental task of facing Pinelands in the final of the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) Presidents’ Cup on Sunday night.
The two finalists were determined on Thursday evening when the Burger King Clapham Bulls won the second of the two game series against the Station Hill Cavaliers 84-79.
However they still fell short in the final count, losing 161-143 overall due to their heavy 82-59 defeat in Game 1.
The Cavs and Bulls swapped the lead for the majority of the game in what was a scrappy affair. Easy opportunities to score were missed and even with offensive rebounds in the mix, both teams missed their second and third chances to score.
The Cavaliers took an early 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Clapham outscored their opponents 27-20 in the second quarter to trail by just one (41-42) at halftime.
The Cavs were active on the offensive glass, pulling down rebounds consistently and it helped them stay in the game.
The issue for the Cavs, however, came when the Bulls shut down the lane and forced them to shoot from outside.
The strategy worked well with only Gavin Phillips, who ended with 14 points and 10 rebounds, the only Cavs player who knocked down shots. The ever aggressive Joel Hunte was the only other Cavaliers player who had any significant impact in the game, finishing with a team high 19 points.
The Bulls played one of their better games of the season but again, was far below the standard of previous championship years.
Point guard Andrew Ifill played well, bullying his way to the basket for the majority of the matchup.
He was ably assisted by an almost fully fit Rahiim Gibbons, while veteran Akeem Marsh showed up in the paint. Marsh shot well from the field and though still having back pain, had his way with the smaller defenders.
Marsh scored a game high 29 points and Manuel Alleng had 13.
At the end of the third quarter, Clapham led 59-56 and maintained the lead throughout the fourth to hold on for the win and save face despite being knocked out of the Presidents’ Cup.
As expected, Pinelands decimated the Lakers Sports Club by 50 points in a 109-59 thrashing. Lakers were never in it and in what has become the norm, they gave up over 100 points.
One of the most dominant players in the Premier League, Deveron Knight, had a game high 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Deroni Hurley, arguably one of the most talented players in the division, put up 20 points and added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Semi-pro player Rasheed Maynard also chipped in with 19 points.
By the half, fans had already started to leave the Barbados Community College gym, because of the 53-26 score and many more followed suit after the third quarter (87-31), with the Lakers only managing to score five points during the period while Pinelands added 34.
The bench was cleared for Pinelands midway through the final quarter allowing Lakers to outscore them by six (28-22) during that time.
For the Lakers Justin Bramao topscored with 15 points while Anand Joseph-Thorne added 14.
The final is set for Sunday at 7 pm at the Barbados Community College.
There will also be two Co-operators General Insurance Premier League games between the Lakers Sports Club and the C.A.M Assurance City United Celtics at 3.00 pm. Then the Church Village Spartans will face off against the Combined Schools Tridents.
(OS)