The formidable Ravens withstood the defensive pressure, explosive fast-break game and deadly three-point shooting of the new-look Colts to win the Pepsi Sonics Basketball Club ‘Refresh your Games’ tournament on Sunday night at the Burnham Basketball Court.
Ravens trailed for the majority of the first two quarters but got it together midway in the third quarter. After taking the lead, Ravens withstood several comeback attempts and held on to win the division one title 79-73.
Pacesetters won the division three title after defeating Panthers 65-50. Joslyn Crawford led the way for Pacesetters with 16 points while Shawn Gillis and Dwight Grey added 10 points apiece. Panthers’ forward Haslyn Hooper led his team with 12 points while Morris Archer and Jonathon Pooran each added 10 points.
Ravens pocketed G$100,000 for their efforts while coach Vijai Panday and the new-look Colts were forced to take home the second place prize of G$50,000.
Four of the Ravens players had carted off the hefty G$1,000,000 cash prize the night earlier in the Mackeson Three-on Three street basketball tournament. Coincidentally, the team that they defeated in that tournament also included some of the key players from the Colts basketball club.
With the stage set for a ‘reloaded rematch’, Colts got out early on good footing doing what few teams have managed to do against Ravens. Colts’ guards Shelroy and his brother Sheldon Thomas along with point guard Dave Causeway, penetrated the Ravens defence. Ravens, who pride themselves on having an impenetrable ‘lockdown’ defence, where players help each other and converge on the offensive player to prevent them from getting off shots in the paint, were caught by surprise early.
Their defence was logically tailored to hinder the accuracy of the Colts three-point shooters but when defenders reached out, they were deceived by some deceptively coercive ball fakes by the Thomas brothers and Causeway which created paths to the basket. Having already beaten one defender and drawing the help-defender, this opened the passing lane and created open looks for players.
While Ravens was able to disturb the three-point shooters, they faced yet another problem other than the penetration. Colts were forcing turnovers and getting out in the open court to execute their explosive fast-breaks in the first half. With all that working for them, Colts led through the first two quarters, but a buzzer beater at the end of the half from Ravens’ guard Marlon Rodrigues signalled the resurgence of the Ravens in the third.
Ravens offense began to click in the third quarter on the shoulders of national guard Ryan Stephney. Stephney registered a game high 19 points, but what was more of an impact, was how he got those points. Stephney handled the ball for most of the second half and cleverly put the aggressively defensive Colts guards in foul trouble.
Shelroy Thomas, who scored 17 points, was forced to sit for the majority of the fourth quarter after picking up his fourth foul, two minutes into the quarter.
Apart from drawing fouls, Stephney also penetrated effectively and managed to get forwards Ryan Gullen (12 points) and Jermaine Slater (13 points) involved. Causeway drilled a variety of ‘banked shots’ but did not pack enough firepower to single-handedly complete the Colts comeback. Sheldon Thomas attempted to provide some assistance, using his lethal quickness to get to the basket off the dribble but it was evident that Shelroy’s presence was needed at crucial points in the game for the comeback to have been successful. The trio equally combined for 51 of the Colts points as all three players scored 17.
In the fourth quarter the Ravens’ experience seemed to have made the difference as they former team captain Darcel Harris said it would in an earlier edition of this publication. Harris said that Colts had not been better in any category and Ravens seemed to validate that notion in the final minutes of the game
Ravens brandished their fast-break game as Yussuf Edghill executed some remarkable layups while forcing Colts to turn the over ball on a few occasions when they had been looking to get out in the open court. The Colts defensive pressure, had put them in foul trouble and their lethal three-point shooting was limited by the Ravens defence.
