PRE-TOURNAMENT favourites Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust lived up to that billing last Wednesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall when they edged Lodge/Meadowbrook 75-72 in their quarterfinals matchup of the Mackeson-

sponsored Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters Basketball Club Inter-ward tournament.
Shelroy Thomas led the East Coast side with 20 points while Enoch Matthews, Steffon Gillis and Nikkoloi Smith netted 17, 13 and 12 points respectively, even as Hodayah Stewart tried desperately to keep Lodge/Meadowbrook in the hunt with his 21 points and four steals.
Also contributing to Lodge/Meadowbrook’s scoreline were Drunson McCaulay, Fabian Johnson and Mortimer Williams who got 13 points and 12 rebounds, 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals and 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals respectively.
Lodge/Meadowbrook utilised their superior size advantage well in the first period, where they took a 14-13 lead, but struggled to contain a red-hot Gillis, who got 11 of his overall 13 points during this period, inclusive of back-to-back shots from downtown, which piloted an 11-3 run for the eventual victors, who ended the period with an 11-point lead, 25-16.
Not to be outdone, Lodge/Meadowbrook battled back in the second period as Williams and McCaulay combined to net 12 points and, coupled with some strong defensive work which saw the Vryheid’s Lust/Plaisance committing several turnovers, restricted their opponents to just nine points during the second quarter, as the half ended 36-34 in favour of Lodge/Meadowbrook.
In what proved to be the lowest scoring period of the fixture, Enoch Matthews netted six points as Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust levelled the score at 50 in a gritty third stanza, including a wonderful basket from downtown, after receiving a gem of a pass from Ryan Guillen, following a back-door cut.
However, Plaisance/Vryheid’s Lust displayed their championship mettle, as they survived an early nine-point onslaught by Stewart, who, utilising the pick and roll play to good effect, nailed several floaters that helped push the Georgetown side into the lead.
The offensive burden proved a weight too heavy for the shoulders of Thomas and Smith, who combined for 21 points in the quarter with Smith hitting one from downtown to kick start an already staggering defence, with five minutes left on the clock.
He tied the scores on the very next possession, draining another three-point shot with 3:58 remaining in the quarter, but, not to be outdone Thomas registered back-to-back three-point plays with less than 2 minutes left in the game.
In the other quarterfinal encounter, Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust squeaked past McDoom/Diamond 69-68, with Naylon Loncke leading the victors with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, with assistance from Michael Turner and Randy Richardson, who recorded figures of 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and 12 points respectively.
Travis Burnett was the top scorer for the losers with 20 points and four steals while Ryan Stephney contributed 14 points and five rebounds.