FOLLOWING their embarrassing first round loss to Albouystown/Charlestown last Saturday night, Lodge/Meadowbrook avoided elimination from the Mackeson-sponsored Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH), Pacesetters-organised Inter-Ward Basketball Championships, with an impressive victory over Buxton last

Wednesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Also recording victories on the night were Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust and McDoom/Diamond, who were too good for East/West Ruimveldt and Alberttown/Bourda respectively, with Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust chalking up their second win in as many games, to maintain an unbeaten record.
Veteran guard/forward, Pelham Doris led Lodge/Meadowbrook’s recovery after their opening loss to defending champs, Albouystown/Charlestown last week with a 16-point performance that breathed new life into his side’s 73-44 win against Buxton.
Doris also had five assists and four rebounds while Mortimer Williams offered support with 15 points and six rebounds and Hodayah Stewart and Shawn Blair netted 10 and seven points correspondingly for an excellent all-round offensive team performance.
For Buxton, Ewart Smith and Loshol Caesar scored 11 and eight points respectively for the team that collapsed in the second half of the game, after both sides struggled for offence in the first quarter with the Buxtonians jumping into an 11-7 lead at the end.
Doris imposed his offensive will in the second period, when his team was down 17-21, rolling back some years in a vintage display of leadership, nailing one from downtown, driving the lane for an intense layup and then landing another from beyond the arc, which obviously left Buxton flabbergasted.
He (Doris) scored 12 points in five minutes, showing his worth on the defensive end as he intercepted a pass that he converted for a 32-27 Lodge/Meadowbrook lead at halftime, while rigid defence later led to poor shot selections that plagued the Buxtonians in the third period.
The pressure from Lodge/Meadowbrook ensured that the East Coast-based side scored just five points in the penultimate period of regulation time, even as Williams and Stewart joined forces to reinforce their team’s dominance of the encounter.
The third quarter ended in favour of the eventual victors who appeared indomitable, leading 51-35 while they added 22 points in the final quarter, while their defence only allowed their opponents a mere nine points.
Meanwhile, earlier in the night, McDoom/Diamond defeated Alberttown/Bourda 69-56 with one of the most prolific guards, Travis Burnett, scoring 24 points while Tyrone Hamid had 10 points and Travis Foster seven points and 13 rebounds.
Yannick December scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds in the loss while Jaime Mayers scored 10 points and collected seven ‘boards’ for  Alberttown/Bourda, as the organisers played three games in groups ‘A’ and ‘B’ on the third night of the championships.
The offensively lethal Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust scored their second successive 100 plus points game, on their way to a massive 121-53 win over a hapless East/West Ruimveldt unit.
Nikkoloi Smith led with 22 points, three steals and as many assists while Nicholas Cassius, Enoc Matthews, Hugh Arthur and Shelroy Thomas contributed 16, 13, 13 and 12 points respectively in another explosive team performance, even as Dwan Walters and Albert Grant led the losers with 17 and 14 points respectively, with Walters adding nine rebounds to his tally.
The action is set to continue this weekend at the same venue, with several Inter-Ward teams looking to avoid elimination. (Calvin Roberts)