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North Ruimveldt in the hunt for back-to-back titles
– oust Albouystown/Charlestown
By Edison Jefford
Darcel Harris
Darcel Harris fashioned one of the better performances at the guard position in the HJTV and Lens Craft Inter–Ward Basketball competition, to lead North Ruimveldt to its second consecutive final in an ideally electric atmosphere.
Harris thrilled patrons with his sharp-shooting, crossovers and accurate passes in North’s 66-60 points win against nemesis, Albouystown/Charlestown (A/C) to clinch the best-of-three series 2-1 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The arena was literally alive for most of the game Thursday night, as arguably two of the best teams in the competition battled for a place in the final where $500,000 will be given to the eventual winners in a three-game playoff.
Harris came off the bench to score 19 points with eight rebounds, while Damian Liverpool supported with 13 points and nine rebounds. Quincy Jones had 12 points while Andrew Ifill finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Damian Liverpool
Guard Trevor McCleod was the lead scorer for A/C with 14 points while Dwayne ‘Sugar’ Roberts finished with a similar amount of points and 12 rebounds. Rodwell Fortune gave support to the offence with 10 points in the battle.
The game started as expected; it was highly defensive with both teams jostling for prime ball possession in the first five minutes of the first quarter that eventually yielded merely nine points to both teams.
However, A/C snatched the offensive edge much to the delight of the crowd and raced ahead but a two-handed front rim dunk from Ifill returned some momentum to North. The initial period ended 20-15 in favour of Albouystown.
North equalised 20-20 in the first three minutes of the second quarter, when Liverpool had an ‘old-school sky-hook’ in the paint. The game heavily tilted toward North when Harris went on a rampage against poor A/C defence.
Harris shifted a no-look assist to Jones along the baseline for a lay-up then landed a three-point jumper from way down town. North went up 25-20 and the energy and excitement overwhelmed enthusiasts in the crucial encounter.
The defending champs continued their offensive surge after calculated defence, finishing around 90 percent of their attempts. North took a 10-point (33-23) lead with 2:52 seconds left in the quarter. However, the game was far from over.
Fans were treated to the reason why the encounter was regarded as one of the best in the tournament in three minutes of quality basketball fit for the annals of any local history. It was basketball at its best before halftime.
Jason Squires and Liverpool took North ahead 36-28 with a lay-up and two free-throws respectively but Alwyn Bellamy landed a big three-point jumper that chopped the lead to five (36-31) before Fortune’s heroics entertained.
Fortune dribbled pass four defenders and completed a clean ‘dish’ to haul A/C back in a game that was slowly eluding them. However, Harris was not to be left out of the action- he landed a big ‘three’ at the buzzer to close the half.
North went into the break leading 40-33.
The third quarter was extremely defensive, both teams struggled to convert on offence, but North ensured their lead was maintained in an experienced and mature semi-final performance.
Harris landed another big three-point blow at the buzzer that lit up the arena.
The third quarter ended 53-42 with North leading, but the final five minutes of the fourth period returned the offensive competitiveness to the game when A/C went on a 10-3 run that Kacy Hollingsworth capped with two free-throws.
The run brought Albouystown to within four points with the scores set at 56-52.
This was striking distance for A/C, but again the team failed to take the ultimate last gasp opportunity in the game.
North increased their defensive pressure with all their senior players on the court and held on for the win with excellent use of the game clock.
Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust is the other team that will contest next weekend’s final.
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