THE Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) Kings staved off a late rally by Victory Valley Royals to capture the Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s Under-21 club championship on Friday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
It was a riveting final, eventually, after the two teams shared the opening first two sessions of the game as the Kings held the edge at the end of the first quarter 15-14, only to see the Royals bounce back at halftime 32-30.
Then the pivotal third quarter saw the Kings outscore their opponents 22-7, to lead 52-39, which was a turnaround that almost sealed victory for them, but the Royals had surely not finished.
The pattern of dominance by the Kings in the third stanza was against the train of things seen earlier. Kings were up 5-4 soon after jump ball and with five minutes remaining in this opening quarter Royals took over for a 10-7 lead before the Kings regained it at 15-10 and ended the period 15-14.
Then one of the backcourt duo for the Kings, Orrin Rose (Jr), knocked in a 3-pointer to start the third quarter but Royals rallied back to knot the scores at 20 with 7 mins 30 secs left.
The Royals guard/forward Chris Williams nailed one from down-town for the Royals as they had recovered to nudge ahead 25-20  and with 4:42 left in the first half, Rose was sent to the line where he buried two free throws as his team were down 24-25. But the Royals kept their grip at 32-30 when the halftime whistle came.
The third quarter was furious as both teams were matching baskets in the first few minutes and the scores were tied at 32 and 34 and the Kings, on Rose’s free throws took the lead 36-34 with 6 mins 32 secs left.
By this time the Kings were pressuring the Royals inside the ‘key’ where they were superior and were feeding off line shots when fouled in shooting mode.
Kings then upped their spread on the court and within the final six minutes of the third period were able to make a 14-3 run. During this time Horace Gurrick, a southpaw centre was posing problems for the Royals in the low post and Kings guard Quincy Easton’s quick break basket with 3 mins 15 secs  to go, sent his side up by ten, 46-36, which saw them cushion to a 52-39 lead.
The Kings continued to go inside and it looked like they were coasting along as the Royals found themselves in foul trouble trying to keep the Kings out of the “paint’ area where they were either making high percentage shots or being fouled and going to the line.
With 2:55 to go guard Marvin Russell launched a big shot from near mid court, sending spectators into frenzy, which brought the Royals also within a basket 55-58.
A Chris Williams ‘floater’ scored as he penetrated the lane with 2 mins 49 secs left. His team, revitalised, were down 57-58.
Then the crowd was brought to its feet when Royals snatched the lead 59-58 on a Marlon Pollydore drive in traffic with 2 mins 15 secs on the game clock.
However, Rose was able to draw the foul with Royals in foul trouble and make the shots count, to give Kings back the lead 60-59. But with 56.8 seconds still left Williams went to the line where he made one of two shots to knot the scores.
But four seconds later Williams was fouled out and so it seemed, Royals’ hope of winning ended. Rose went to the line again and scored one of two shots as the Royals lost their way in the dying seconds, allowing Kings to gather a fast break after which Quincy Easton scored and Kings took the lead for good 63-60.
Easton, for his energising effort, was named Most Valuable Player of the Final while Sheldron Noel was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Gurrick top-scored for the Kings with 17 points while Easton had 12 and Jermaine Johnson 10 for the winning Kings side while for Royals, Marlon Pollydore had a game-high 26 points  with Russell 15 and Williams 12.
In the third place playoff game Retrieve Raiders kept their cool to beat Glands Trucking Service Bulls 49-45 after leading at the break 26-14. They were led to victory by Jeffrey Larose with 15 and Deval Wilson getting 12 while for the Bulls, Travis Blackman netted 13 and Michael Turner 10.