Pinelands easily dismissed the efforts of the Lakers to win their second game of the Co-operators General Insurance, Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Premier League at the Barbados Community College on Friday evening.
The 119-69 beating was in keeping with the high scoring trend set by the defending champions last season. Led by Kiserian Adams with 27 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and four steals, Pinelands worked the ball around till a weakness appeared in the Lakers defense and took advantage. A combination of attacking the basket as well and raining treys from outside the arc worked well for the champs.
Adams hit five of 13 while Derion Hurley had five of 10 from the three-point line with the team scoring 21 of 59. The Lakers just could not recover fast enough from defending the drive, to getting back out to the shooters. The shooting from outside the arc was almost enough to defeat the Lakers alone. However the Pine players also scored 46 points in paint, once again scoring against a team with taller forwards in the key.
The Lakers were able to stick with the pace of the game during the first quarter, trailing by just seven points, 26-19 at the end of the first ten minutes. Pinelands then shot the lights out in the second, scoring 32 points to take them into the halftime break, up 58-32.Â
The natural pass accuracy of Pinelands is uncanny and the constant movement without the ball left the Lakers confused and three steps behind defensively. Derion Hurley made his scoring look remarkably smooth and continued in the second half to finish with 21 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. The dynamic duo of Rasheed Maynard and Deroni Hurley put up 19 and 16 points respectively with Rachad Hall adding 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven rebounds. It was an all round effort by the Pine.
The third quarter ended 93-51, with the Pine being just seven points shy of the 100 mark. Midway through the final period, they had already shot past that score and did not ease off the gas. Jehu Lafeuille was the best Laker on the court and he finished with 21 points, along with 16 rebounds and six assists. Lafeuille was supported by forward Primus Walrond with 18 points.Â
Unfortunately it seems like teams are weary of the Pinelands swarming defense in the paint and neither Lafeuille nor Walrond took efficient advantage of the smaller Pinelands players under the basket. Veteran Keefe Birkett came late to the game and was able to help bolster the Laker tally, scoring 15 points along with five rebounds.
Warrens All Stars played well for three quarters against the young and impressive National Sports Council (NSC) Combined Schools Tridents but the youngsters clawed their way back from a double digit deficit to lose 66-58. The Tridents closed the lead in the fourth with a 18-4 run, all the way down to a single point but missed baskets and turnovers allowed Warrens to escape and gain some confidence.
Brandon Hope had a game high 15 points while Kaliel Austin had 11. Khamal Boyce and Delan Willie added nine each while Greig Springer finished with seven.
At halftime, the score was 37-26 and the third ended 55-38. Tridents pressured the ball handler and also focused on the fast break in the fourth but could not get over the line. For the youngsters Tristan Yarde and Antoine Winter each had a 13 point effort and Nayiib Browne had 11 in the loss.
(AS)
