… Bulls beat Kings for third place
IT SEEMED like déjà vu and it turned out that the Retrieve Raiders proved their superiority once more over their arch-rivals Victory Valley Royals, recording a sensational 58-51 victory when the two sides met in the final of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s 2011/12 Under-23 championship final, played on Saturday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) hard court. As it were, the Royals only previous defeat was to the unbeaten Raiders in the preliminary six-team round robin play and it was by a single digit, 58-57.
Raiders were led by guard Sheldon Noel who missed the semifinal game when the Raiders eliminated the Kashif and Shanghai Kings, returning to score 18 points in a game which was exciting and reflected what a competitive tournament it was.
In the third place playoff game the GTS Half Mile Bulls pulled off a stunning 56-55 win over the Kashif and Shanghai Kings on a last gasp heave by Jashon Braithwaite with just 14 seconds left in that game, condemning Kings to fourth place.
The final was studded with a number of fine plays as the first quarter ended in favour of the Royals, who had five players contributing to their go-to players Chris Williams and Marlon Pollydore, displaying early form for a 12-10 advantage.
However, the Raiders’ offence was looking more balanced and they jumped into the lead from a Noel drive with 4:38 to go, taking a 17-16 lead and in tandem with Geoffrey Larose, the Raiders looked like taking the initiative.
But Williams steadied things for Royals with eight of their last nine points which were scored as the game approached the half-way mark and ended level on 25.
Basketball remains a team sport and the Raiders perhaps know this as they burst open a 36-29 advantage from excellent rotation of the ball in this pivotal third quarter before but back-to-back 3-pointers from the dangerous Pollydore and Williams enabled Royals to come close to trail 35-36.
Then the Raiders’ power forward Yannick Primo was fouled and be made free throws to give his side a three-point lead but Royals’ Williams on a penetration ensured the lead by the Raiders was cut to one, 38-37 as the third stanza ended.
Royals regained the lead in the fourth quarter when Theodore Tappin penetrated from the top and Pollydore widened the lead for his side as they took a 41-38 cushion.
Raiders’ Noel then replied netting five consecutive points for them, allowing them to knot the scores at 43 with 6:48 to go.  Forward Deval Wilson then made two freebies and scored a drive which gave his side the lead 45-43.
However, Williams answered grabbing an offensive rebound which he put up to even the scores and then scored another shot as the Royals regained the lead 47-45 and extended it with a free shot, making it 48-45.
But yet again Wilson weighed in with another shot even though the Royals were ahead 48-47. With 2:15 remaining Noel knocked in back-to-back shots as the Raiders eased into the lead 51-48.
However, Williams shot in a free throw which was matched by Noel at the stripe as Raiders opened up a 54-50 lead and never looked back, as they accelerated to win eventually 58-51. The Royals came up short in the final stretch.
Noel’s 18 points was his team’s best individual score as Yannick Primo scored 10 while Deval Wilson and Geoffrey Larose each got eight points for the winners.
The Royals, whose only defeat was to the unbeaten Raiders in the preliminary six-team round robin play was by a 58-57 loss, top scorers were again Williams who got 25 game-high points and Pollydore with 11 with the next best score coming from Anthony Morris with five points.
When the two teams clashed in the preliminary round the Bulls scored a 62-50 win.
The Bulls’ top scorers were Michael Turner with 16, Jashon Braithwate 13 and Travin Dryden 12 
The Kings’ top scorers were Quincy Easton with 22 and Akeel Primo 13 and Orin Rose 12.
The presentation saw president of the LABA captain Eon Murray hand over the winning trophy donated by Unique Entertainment to the captain of the Raiders team Omar Sam, while the second-place trophy was donated by ‘Country’ and Andrew Persaud and was received by the captain of Royals Chris Williams.
The third place trophy was donated by LABA Committee Member Clyde Brushe and handed over by LABA Committee Member Ms June Harris.