Pinelands in, Warriors out
Orange 3 Pinelands have survived a scare and have made it into the playoffs of the Co-operators General Insurance Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Premier League.
The Pine secured the last playoff spot not of their own volition, but due to the loss incurred by the Barbados Hilton Resort Warriors on Sunday night at the hands of the Station Hill Cavaliers. Warriors needed one more win to tie with Pinelands to make the playoff race for the final spot interesting. However, their performance against the Cavs could only be described as lacklustre, bordering on a meltdown.
It was going to be a tough matchup against the top team in the league, but Warriors have shown over the last two years that at times they can hang with the best teams in the competition. The game had looks of being competitive in the early stages, but midway through the first quarter that all ended. The Cavs, who always play at full tilt, attacked the undermanned Warriors without remorse. Without Ricardo Toussaint and Justin Maloney who played the night before in the 107-54 drubbing of the Hilton Hawks, scoring was few and far between against Station Hill.
The quarter scores stood at 28-13, 53-36 at half and 75-43 after a paltry eight-point third quarter by the Warriors. The final score was 90-58, a 32-point dismissal with Station Hill’s Joel Hunte leading the way with 21 points and seven rebounds. For the Warriors, it was Jamar Headley who had a game-high 22 points with 14 rebounds while Corey McDonald who came up from First Division for the game had a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The loss has allowed a feeble Pinelands team into the playoffs against three formidable sides including the top two, Station Hill and the Barbados Lumber Company Lakers. Those two have less losses in total than Pinelands has racked up already for the season. Most of the other teams in the league have one or two games left to play and then it will be onto the playoffs. As it stands, Pinelands would face the Cavaliers and based on present form in recent games, Pinelands will have their work cut out for them. (AS)