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Lodge/Meadowbrook prevails in thriller
By Edison Jefford
If the National Community Basketball League (NCBL) continues to produce thrillers
TRAPPED!!! Excellent defensive work from Lodge/Meadowbrook traps Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust, Enoch Mathews (reaching for ball) in the paint Thursday night.
like the feature game Thursday night then it will not be too long before the pilot project becomes one of the premier national basketball competitions in Guyana.
The weather was favorable, basketball buffs turned out in their numbers and the on and off-court entertainment provided the right atmosphere for the feature showdown between the Guinness Bar-sponsored Lodge/Meadowbrook and the Western Union-sponsored Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust teams.
The much bigger Lodge/Meadowbrook team was forced to dig deep against the more diminutive, but nippy, Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust, eventually prevailing 67-66 in the final seconds after Hugh Arthur had taken control for Plaisance in crunch-time.
Dorrian Lewis dropped 14 points for Lodge/Meadowbrook while Fabian Johnson added 12 points in a game they controlled in the last half after Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust had ran them into the ground in the first half with pace, speed and quality shooting.
Steffon Gillis had 21 points for Plaisance while Ryan Gullen had 19 points and eight rebounds in the keen contest. It was clear from the first quarter that Lodge was not prepared to deal with the fast-breaks and ‘running’ technique of Plaisance.
An Arthur initiated fast-break in the first quarter broke a sequence of points exchange and gave Plaisance a 17-12 lead with two minutes left in the period. Plaisance closed out the period still on an offensive run, leading 20-14 at the end.
Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust continued to control the tempo of the game in the second period when Gillis landed a three-point jumper before Gullen also completed a jumper and a fast-break lay-up that gave their team a 27-16 advantage.
Lodge’s defence was continually broken down with several outlet passes. However, Gillis, who was the clear offensive leader on the team, went to the bench without any threats of foul trouble and with the halftime break coming up and immediately the game changed.
Lewis nailed consecutive jumpers then landed a big three-pointer to gradually haul Lodge back into the game after they were outplayed for 17 minutes. In a surprising twist of fortune, Plaisance defence collapsed as they held on for a 35-32 lead at halftime.
Lodge/Meadowbrook started the third quarter going to their ‘bigs’, and the result was a shift in momentum. For the first time in the contest, Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust was not in control of the tempo, which forced them to play outside of their natural game.
Fabian Johnson controlled the ‘boards’ and Mortimer Williams nailed some big shots just inside the three-point arc to help Lodge level the scores at 45 apiece at the end of the third period. Williams continued to shoot the ball at a high percentage in the final period and though it was a case of hits and misses, Lodge took a 56-47 lead with four minutes remaining.
However, Gillis nailed a jumper, and then eased the ball high off the glass to keep Plaisance in the contest, but Lodge rightly blocked up the paint with their ‘big men’ and forced them to take tough shots. Unfortunately, Gillis was not at his best in crunch-time.
His back-up guard, Arthur was the one who ensured that the result comes down to the wire with smart plays but time was against Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust as Lodge/Meadowbrook held on for the close victory, which was their first in the group.
In the first game, Gizmos and Gadgets East/West Ruimveldt defeated the West Side Boys 62-42 with Owen Walton scoring 19 points and Warren Oudkerk 18 points for East/West Ruimveldt. For West Side, L. Alves had 11 points and R. DeFreitas scored nine points.
The 2012 NCBL moves to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall from Tuesday where all the remaining games, apart from those scheduled for the Mackenzie Sports Club court will be played.
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