Pinelands begins Premier League with a bang

KFC Orange 3 Pinelands began their 2020 Co-operators General Insurance, Barbados Premier League campaign with a win, taking down the dangerous Barbados Lumber Company Lakers 89-78 at the Barbados Community College.

Both teams met on the court at 8 pm on Sunday night with new faces representing the squads for the first time. Pinelands finally had in the arsenal, top youth players Deroni Hurley, Rasheed Maynard and Kiserian Adams. It would be these three that would lead the charge again the Lakers with a transition game that had been sorely lacking in the club for years.

Lakers boasted of new players as well including forward Jahmai White who started the ball rolling with an outlet layup to be the first player on the scoresheet. Veteran Laker Keefe Birkett followed that up with a three and in less than a minute, Pinelands was down five. The battle would see-saw from then on with both sides attacking the basket, taking on the defence. The difference was that Pinelands played a more tenacious defense, denying sharp shooter Birkett the ball.

The Lakers led 20-21 at the end of the first but Pinelands veteran Junior Moore had something to say about it. Moore went for seven consecutive points as Pinelands turned the tide from being down 26-30 to leading 33-30 with 2:35 remaining in the first half. Young Maynard added a trey for good measure but the Lakers were hanging in, down four with the scoreline showing 42-38.

The third was the start of a shooting display by Pinelands, well mostly Maynard. Deroni Hurley pulled the trigger first, nailing the three from the wing, then Maynard smoked three 3s each from a different spot on his way to 11 points in the quarter. Along with Kiserian Adams, who added seven in the third, Pinelands were cruising 67-50 with 1:34 minutes left in the period. Luckily for the Lakers, the substitution into the game of David Walkes fueled them to a 10-3 run to bring the Lakers within ten points.

Lakers fought especially newcomers Zachary Cave and Anand Joseph-Thorne but their energy on both sides of the floor was not enough to halt the push of the Pine. In the end Pinelands held on for the 11 point win with Maynard having a top performance of 22 points. His support came from the young and senior players as Junior Moore, Kiserian Adams and Derion Hurley all put up 15 points each towards the win. Joseph-Thorne scored 17 points for the Lakers, Zachary Cave had 16, while Mark Bridgman and Ormond Haynes were good for 11 points. (AS)