Half Mile Bulls were crowned the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) U-23 champions, overcoming the Amelia’s Ward Jets, 69-61 in the finale at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) hard-court on Friday.
Terron Welch once again was the primary scorer for the newly crowned champions, recording a monstrous game high effort of 33 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals. The next best scorer in the win was Dennis Niles who netted 12 points while Travin Dryden and Jamal Bethune chipped in with 10 and eight points respectively.
For the loser, Adrian Webster top scored with 23 points while Keith Butters and Parish Cadogan assisted with 11 points apiece.
Trailing 10-5 at the end of the first period, Bulls would pull within three points in the second period, outscoring Jets 27-25 to go into the half-time interval trailing 35-32.
Bulls then built on their second quarter momentum in the third period, netting an impressive 28 points while restricting Jets to 14 points to take control of the match going into the final period with the score at 60-49.
With an 11 point lead in their possession in the final quarter, Bulls managed to hold on to clinch the title as they were outscored 12-9.
With the win, Bulls walked away with the championship accolade while Welch received the tournament top scorer and most valuable player of the finale honours. Earlier, in the third place playoff, Victory Valley Royals downed Retrieve Raiders by a 66-40 margin.
Keifer Tapping led the scorers in the win with 21 points while the next best scorer with 18 points was Nevin Glen. On the other side, O. Williams top scored in the loss with 10 points. The expected contest was quickly reduced to a no-contest in the opening quarter as Royals outshot Raiders 27-5.
The second period proved to be similar to the first as Royals maintained their sizeable lead, outscoring Raiders once again by a 16-11 margin to enter the half time period ahead 43-16.
Royals continued to extend their lead in the third period, recording 15 points while reducing Raiders to 12 points to go into the final period with the score at 58-28. With the contest already decided, the final period witnessed both sides netting 12 points apiece.
