The Ravens’ Basketball Club Saturday night proved itself to undoubtedly be George-town’s best when they swept aside the Nets in two straight games to become the last team standing in the Georgetown Amateur Basket-ball Association/Next Level Entertainment/Banks DIH Super-Eight Knockout competition.
Ravens it seemed, had no intention of playing a third game and, after coming from behind to overcome a dominant Nets in Game One, showed their invincibility this time around.
The confidence that the team possessed from being 1-0 up was definitely a factor at the beginning of game two as all of the players seemed to have pep in their step and even energized the crowd with a flurry of dunks from all the players in the warm-up.
This enthusiasm was quickly transferred into the game and they maintained the lead throughout the first quarter which ended with the score 11-7.
Ravens stuck to their game plan which was very productive at the start of the second half, until point guard Rodwell “Koby” Fortune penetrated the lane, drawing the attention of a the Nets defenders who tried to stop him from scoring but only succeeded in fouling the player in the process.
Fortune emerged from this encounter with a trail of blood which originated from a cut he sustained over his left eye.
This seemed to put Ravens in a precarious position since their star point-guard Darcelle Harris had not arrived as yet.
Harris did eventually turn up late in the second period, but replacement Marlon Rodrigues stepped up and drained a three-pointer to immediately make his presence felt.
This set off a series of events as Frank Bell came right back and answered with a three-pointer of his own at the other side of the court, sending a message to the Ravens ‘players who might have neglected to cover him.
For good measure he punished them with three first-half, three-pointers.
Nets went hard on the offensive boards and took a brief 23-21 lead. However, Damien Liverpool answered for the Ravens and assisted by Ryan Stephaney and Kevin Lawrence, he made good on the passes that they delivered to him in the low post to give his team a 33-28 lead at half-time.
Strange enough, Nets started the second half on a scoring rampage as Tristan Tulloch managed to score five points on a single run down, being fouled on a three-point attempt and then converting two free throws for a technical blown on Ravens’ coach Lugard Mohan who it seemed did not intend to stay quiet about the obvious disputed calls by the officials.
However, Ravens managed to rise above the officiating and managed to stay ahead of the Nets 54-50 at the end of the third-quarter.
Ravens showed that they were truly the superior team in the final quarter as they managed to withstand many comeback attempts from the Nets who tried relentlessly to avoid the sweep, but when Harris connected with a three pointer from about three feet beyond the arc, Ravens were home safe as they closed the game on a 9-2 run.
Liverpool led all scorers with 19 points while Kevin Lawrence made his most significant offensive performance when it counted and finished with 13 points.
In the division three finals, the Disciples choked and allowed the Pacesetters to assault them in a 71-88 loss.
Pacesetter out-hustled the Disciples and snatched what was a dominant first quarter lead. Half-time met the two teams deadlocked in points with the score tied up at 33. However, the game was not even as a Disciples collapse was just minutes away having already been experiencing problems of fatigue and foul trouble due to their six-man squad.
In addition, their perimeter shooters were connecting at an unacceptable percentage.
Pacesetters’ coach Robert Cadogan realized some of the shortcomings and brilliantly capitalized by stretching the Disciples out.
Pretty soon the game turned into a slaughter and injury and foul trouble left three Disciples against the mercy of the Pacesetters, who would not let up and ended the game in grand style.
Travis Burnett of Pacesetters won the battle against namesake Travis Burnett ending the night with a game-high 27 points while team-mate John Fraser gave a defining 24 points.
The Disciples were led by Marlon Chesney who scored 20 points while Shelroy Thomas and Burnett assisted with 18 and 17 respectively.
