Challengers slaughter Cavaliers
THE Garfield Sobers Sports Complex was the scene of a brutal massacre when the VR Carrington Construction Challengers B destroyed the Station Hill Cavaliers by a massive 44 points, winning 75-31 in the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Second Division competition.
The first matchup of the evening saw Challengers B take the Cavaliers to task, dominating the game on both ends of the floor. Adrian Fowler and Ramon Ward got straight to work nailing open jumpers from around the basket. Fowler went on to tally 18 points in the game while Ward put up 16 against a confused and sometimes lazy defence. Cavaliers passed the ball well, but when it came to the scoring department they fell short, badly. By the end of the first quarter though, Cavs were only down 7 points, but as Challengers upped the ante in the next quarter, the lead was pushed to 16, 33-17.
Usually youth would give an older team like Challengers some trouble, but the Cavaliers lacked experience and turned the ball over repeatedly. Alex Clarke piled on his points quietly from converting the Cavalier turnovers at the other end and also was the receiver of a few long passes from big man Shawn Gaskin, who was pulling easy rebounds over the young Cavs. Clarke finished with a game-high 24 points, as Challengers put significant distance between them and Station Hill. In fact, they outscored the struggling youngsters 42-14 in the second half.
Fate would not be so kind to the Challengers Sports Club in the second game, however, when they faced Barbados Hilton Resort Warriors, the unbeaten top team of the Second Division competition. Warriors left the older Challengers A in the dust down the final stretch, winning 71-47.
The outcome did not fully show the effort Challengers put in, especially playing with only one sub on the bench. Despite being extremely fatigued, some players after just the first quarter, Challengers kept pace with Warriors (15-10). After the second period, during which many players were breathing heavily and begging for subs that were not there, the Challengers were holding on for dear life, going into the half-time break down 9, 27-18.
The Warriors had an ace up their sleeve and that was Rasheed Harte. The young guard was extremely active and on the receiving end of many of the assists from his teammates due to finding the open spots on the court. Harte did not disappoint his many fans in the crowd, topping all scorers for the night with 30 points in the game. Along with Harte, Nicholas King created opportunities for himself and was able to run the floor to finish athletically at the hoop, scoring 14 by the final whistle.
Challengers, playing in their final game of the season, were tired and looked about to drop on the court, but veteran player Adrian Johnson lifted their hopes of making it to at least 50 points in the game. Unfortunately they fell three points short, but Johnson contributed 21 points while Richard Walrond scored 8. The final quarter was one more quarter than Challengers could handle and Warriors literally ran circles around them, putting the game to bed and coming away with the relatively easy victory. (AS)