Blowouts in BABA 2nd Division
Top teams Barbados Hilton Resort Warriors and the Barbados Lumber Company Lakers both enjoyed blow-out wins by over 20 points as they cruised to victory in the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) Second Division competition.
The undefeated Warriors took down KFC Orange 3 Pinelands 90-65 in the feature game of the evening at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Thursday. Warriors never looked rattled during the game and out-hustled a young Pine side.
Made up of mostly players over 40 years of age, the Warriors showed why they had not yet lost a game in the competition, with the ball worked around repeatedly for the best shot. Pinelands were also out-rebounded on both ends of the floor with Warriors’ Trevor Simmons and Ron Grant taking control of the paint. Warriors also outran Pinelands in the open court, courtesy of Nicholas King, who was the recipient of most of the fast break opportunities.
Warriors had a 9-point lead after the first quarter, 23-14 and then doubled it to 18 by half-time, 49-31. Pinelands had a long talk during the break, but it made little difference on the actual court as the deficit grew by yet another 9 points at the end of the third quarter, 72-45. Facing an uphill 27-point climb, Pinelands tried their best but Warriors kept their composure and continued to score, trading baskets with the Pine.
The lead was indeed cut, but only by 2 points and Pinelands sank to 4 wins and 3 losses with Warriors earning their fifth win.
Rasheed Harte top-scored with 19 points for Warriors, backed up by Ron Grant with 15, while Nicholas King and Trevor Simmons each added 11. For Pinelands, Tre Bartlett was the shining light with 19 points. Dominic Jervis put up 12 with Karlos Greenidge scoring 9 and Miguel Gibson 8 points.
In the first matchup, third place-ranked team Lakers picked up their fifth win of the season, easily dismissing Pirates 79-45. Pirates made a fight of it early on and only trailed by 5, 21-16 after the first period, but then the fatigue kicked in. Playing in humid conditions, the Pirates were all but spent by the second quarter and could only muster 8 points in ten minutes, all the while giving up free layups at the other end. At the half, the damage was already done with the Lakers holding a 17-point lead, 41-24.
The second half was more of the same and Pirates could not reach double-digits in the third. At the end of the quarter, Lakers had almost doubled their tally (65-33) and pushed on in the fourth to finish way ahead.
Czario Bourne and Derek Browne did most of the damage, with Bourne having a game-high 25 points and Browne 20, while Keenan Small scored 12. Pirates were led by Lamar Springer with 12 and Akeem Blades finished with 7. (AS)