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Granville Jaguars, Wolfpack To
Meet in Oasis D2 Finals
Central Flames of Lucea had their
fire doused by the Granville Jaguars 84-76 in the 2007
WBA/Oasis Purified Water Men’s Basketball League at the
Montego Bay Cricket Club on Sunday, August 26 in Game
One of the Semi-Final elimination series.
If past performance was anything to go by, then
Jaguars were expected to drench the Flames emphatically
especially after a blistering first quarter which they
led 22-14. Jaguars were beaten finalists last season and
displayed the experience to create havoc within the
Flames’ defense. By the second quarter Jaguars’ had
their opponents wondering what hit them as they ran
circles around them to end the second stanza 47-33. Upon
resumption of the game Flames’ rallied several
successful attacks at their opponents as they cut the
lead from fourteen (14) points to six (6) – the closest
they would ever get. Despite their scorching offense and
renewed focus, the Jags
depended on their experience and resilience to stave off
their opponent’s arsenals as a result Flames lost the
final quarter 19-16 giving the ‘cats’ sure victory and a
place in the finals and one of the slots in next
season’s Men’s Basketball Championship whether they win
or lose the finals. Huwayne Blake
led all
scorers with 23 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, his
teammates Leroy
Lawrence and
Christopher Harris added 20 and 16 points
respectively. Flames' forward,
Julian Walker shot a team-high 19 points; he
was also good on the boards with 3, 4 steals, 3 assists
and 1 block shot.
He
was supported by Alrick Haughton 16 points and
Craig Dorman 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals in
their losing effort.
Sunday’s prelude saw Montego Bay Boy’s Club
Warriors and the Granville WolfPack duel live up to all
expectations and hype. Fans were served some good
basketball action. The battle was equally contested as
both teams made stops and scored at each other, matching
basket for basket. WolfPack won the first two quarters
and went into half-time leading 29-25. Just when
everyone thought that WolfPack had the slight edge, they
paid dearly when they made several turnovers and lost
the ball on several possessions in the third quarter to
make the score 43-40 in favor of Warriors. It was now
evident that an upset could be in the making as WolfPack
were not their pesky, uptempo ‘self’. However, young
star
Sheldon Lyle continued his valiant season
performance as he racked up 19 points, but he seemed to
be trying a bit too hard to go for the upset instead to
sticking to the plan as he made costly turnovers by
rushing the game a little too much. That said the
veteran pack of wolves stuck together to hold on to the
small lead. The game ended 64-60. Warriors’ captain
Nunyi Wright played an all-rounded game with
12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block,
while point guard
Brian
Quest had 11 points.
Lawrence
Dowman netted game-high 22 points; netted
game-high 22 points; he was supported by
Vaughn Lee
13 points, 6 rebounds and
Errol
Brooks 12 points and 8 boards to set the
stage of meeting their counterparts Granville Jaguars in
the September 2nd Oasis Purified Water Men’s Basketball
League Grand Final.
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