Clapham Bulls in President’s Cup final

The Burger King Clapham Bulls will feature in back-to-back Barbados Amateur Basketball Association President’s Cup finals, after they slammed the Combined Schools Tridents 88-65 on Tuesday evening at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.

The final, which is slated for the Barbados Community College gym tonight at 8 p.m., will see the Bulls take on KFC Orange 3 Pinelands.

Bulls fell one step short in the inaugural year of the tournament, losing to Station Hill, but will have an opportunity to claim the title tonight.

Tridents never really had a chance against the fire power of the Bulls, despite having some of the most talented youngsters in years. The highlight of the evening was the shooting display by point-guard Andrew Ifill of the Bulls. Ifill, not known by a long shot for his shooting, sunk 4 of 5 from behind the arc, including a half court buzzer beater to finish with 14 points. Theron King matched that scoring performance with 14 of his own, shooting 3 of 6 from three, to go along with 6 rebounds. The Bulls actually had six players in double figures as Manuel Alleng finished with 11 points and Shaquan Carrington, Kelan Phillips and Jae Harris all contributed 10.

Tridents trailed by 11 at the half 37-26 but never challenged the Bulls, especially when they were having fun, passing to Ifill for a shot. Sorry to say, the second half was never a serious one, but the dominance of the Bulls was cemented by Romaine Lovell stealing the rock and out- running the defense for a one-handed slam. By the end of the third, the margin had grown to 20, 65-45, and the Bulls’ starters were chilling on the bench.

Brandon Ruck and Kyrone Alexander did play well for Combined Schools, with Ruck having a double double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Alexander had 17 points and 8 rebounds, 7 of them on the offensive glass. That last stat is a key factor for the Bulls as they gave up 23 offensive rebounds; granted, Tridents only converted those to 8 points.

For the final tonight, Bulls will have to sharpen the horns and be ready to play after two ‘practice games’ in the semi-final round. (AS)