– Linden/Georgetown finals in the making
City side Dyna’s Ravens blew by the Amelia’s Ward Jets 64-58 on Sunday evening in Linden to book their spot in the semi-finals of this year’s Brusche’s Basketball Classic.
Playing at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court in front of a soldout crowd, the Ravens playing without star point guard Darcel Harris who assumed the role as coach, always seemed to be the more dominant side.
The Jets on the other hand had it all in their favour in terms of the crowd support and after the first quarter which was dominated by the home team (12-10), the crowd became more inclined to the game and continued to rally behind them.
But little did they know the Ravens were just flapping their wings for take off and from the second half, the team decked in their customary orange and black uniform were all over the floor.
Ravens Point guards Rodwel ‘Kobe’ Fortune along with Ryan Stephaney handed the Jets back courters Kevin Joseph and Neil Simon a workout that they’ll never forget while in the front court, Damien Liverpool was his normal self, cleaning the boards.
The game was actually won on the inside since the Jets were missing this key element to the game, especially with their centre Alister Webster dropping ball as if it were hot cake, leaving the guards and small forwards to fetch the load of the team.
Ravens outscored the Jets 20 to eight points (30-20) in the second period which reflected that it was only a matter of time before they found a rhythm and shout out the Jets who were relying heavily on the scoring of Joseph and national youth player Akeem Kanhai.
Things never looked up for the Jets and took a turn for the worse when the sharp shooting Kevin Lawrence found his length and Liverpool got comfortable at the bottom.
The Jets through Kanhai and Joseph brought a fight but the two-man show lacked the support from the other players. They accounted for 34 points of their team’s total, scoring 17 points a piece as none of the other Jets members reached double digits.
Ravens on the other hand simplified the team basketball they played with Lawrence leading their charges with 16 points; Liverpool added 13 and Fortune netting ten.
Meanwhile a Linden versus Georgetown finals is certain since two Linden teams will battle each other in semi-final one while the Ravens are awaiting the winners of the clash between defending champions Courts Pacesetters and Eagles whose game was played last night.
The semi-final is set for Friday in Linden.
