The two finalists in the Open Division of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Pepsi Street Playoff Series were decided on Thursday night at the Burnham Basketball Court after the Courts Pacesetters tossed aside the Macabees 77-60 and Ravens outscored Beepat Scorpions 68-53.
The possibility of the Best-of-Three series going to its final game ended when both teams wrapped up with wins in their game two to back up their game one wins and set up their finals showdown.
The Pacesetters led the way for the finalists with their win in the evening’s curtain raiser over the Macabees by another double-figure margin, having won their first encounter with a telling 20-points advantage.
Even with their three-point marksman, Stephon Gillis absent from the line-up this time, the Courts Pacesetters were not short on long range firepower as their other long-range specialist, Naylon Loncke stepped up to the challenge and was on target once again from three-point land. Loncke led Courts Pacesetters scoring as he did in game one, this time with 22 points and with lethal force from beyond the arc as he dropped four long-range bombs on this occasion.
From as early as the first two minutes of the game Loncke was firing and he put Macabees on the back foot from the inception with assistance from Pacesetters’ point guard, Hugh Arthur.
Together they propelled the Pacesetters into an early lead, with the dominant figure being Loncke, who netted another three-pointer shortly after his first.
Arthur went fairly silent as early as the latter half of the opening period and Loncke followed suit in the second quarter, but the accumulated lead was maintained and then increased by the team as they ended the first quarter 24-10 ahead and the second with a comfortable 44-22 points lead.
The Pacesetters met with more competition at intervals from Macabees in the
third and fourth quarters after Macabees’ Hodayah Stewart, who scored a game high 23 points, and Darrel Levans netted some much needed baskets, one each from a distance which slashed the deficit as low as seven points.
But this was as close as the Macabees would get since the Pacesetters raised the lead to double digits once again.
The Beepat Scorpions failed to administer the sting needed to force a game three after Thursday night’s feature clash ended in similar fashion to the team’s game one match-up.
The Beepat Scorpions were less competitive in the recent encounter and proved to be light work for the Ravens, who led at the end of each quarter leading up to the final period (18-8, 33-22, 50-41). They threatened a comeback during the fourth quarter, but didn’t have enough in the tank to contain the dominant Ravens.
Beepat Scorpions’ lead scorer William D’aguiar spearheaded his team’s efforts to get back into the game and found the net three times from downtown within his 16 points.
Trevor Mcleod also added weight to his team’s total with his 10 points.
Ryan Stephney was a key figure in the Ravens line-up and highlighted the scoring with his 18 points, while his teammate Dwayne Roberts contributed 13.
The Pacesetters-Ravens Best-of-Three final is scheduled to begin on October 7 at the Burnham Court, while the Division Three finals between finalists Ravens and Scorpions, who earned their spot on Wednesday night, is slated to begin the day before.
Meanwhile, the Division Three third place playoffs will begin tonight with Courts Pacesetters bumping heads with Melanie Patriots, while Macabees will begin the hunt for third place against Scorpions tomorrow in the Open Division.