Microgaming Cavaliers 84 – 72 LM Construction Phillies
Cavaliers won their fifth straight league title on Thursday in a gripping encounter with a Phillies team with designs on claiming their first. It was Cavs who opened the stronger, Phill Evans burying an open three and following it up with a trip to the free throw line. Phillies looked very nervous in the quarter, all their outside shots bricking off the ring but found great success pounding the ball inside to forwards Chris Smith and Olaf Kalwasinski who changed the course of the quarter dramatically, capping with a pair of made frees and an elbow jumper from Kalwasinski to give Phillies the two point lead at the end of the quarter. Finding themselves in a little foul trouble, Cavs took off their press and the game slowed down a little in the second, but Revi Del Rosario found his range from deep early with a long three. Phillies couldn’t build on that though and struggled to find a route to the basket, while Cavaliers were playing unspectacular but efficient basketball at the other end, leaking out to a 10 point lead after two back to back three pointers from Paul Kilic and some great rebounding from Daniel Pieciak. Phillies put on their own spurt near the end though, Manny Dato and Del Rosario showing the touch from outside and the half closed nicely poised at 44-38. Both teams came out in the third determined to seize control of the game, but it was Cavs who managed to do so, James Capelen rolling back the years to float to the basket on a couple of layups while David Clark snaked his way to the rim multiple times. Phillies only had a solitary Del Rosario basket to their credit at the midway point and the lead had crept to 16. Luke Genenza and Miguel Carillo lead the comeback charge but Cavs matched them for basket and the lead stayed at 16 as we entered the fourth quarter. Raj Mallorca probed the Cavs defence from the top, but found himself matched up with Sean Doyle and his ridiculous wingspan so found it hard to get by and in a retread of the first quarter, the ball found its way inside to Smith and Kalwasinski. Phillies started to chip away at the lead but the more they pushed and got in passing lanes, the more exposed they became in the half court and Les Winnicki and George Tsapakis found themselves with easy scores under the hoop. With two minutes to go, Phillies had closed the gap to single digits but Cavaliers locked it down and held them to one more Genenza basket for the rest of the game, while nailing their free throws. A great win for Cavs, a great advert for the Manx Basketball League and although the Phillies were dejected at the end, it was a remarkable season for them and they’ll be right there next year challenging for honours under the watchful eye of Coach Carl Potenciano. Cavs were delighted though, having suffered through season ending injuries and the emigration of Big Bob Gibson, this ranks right up there as their hardest fought title.
Pokerstars 46 – 42 Rams
Although the Cavs/Phillies game grabs the headlines, anyone who caught this game beforehand was treated to a highly competitive match between two teams keen to finish the season on a high. Rams give away some inches to their opposition most weeks, not having a traditional big man and Pokerstars certainly have inches to spare, Chris Jonnet again staking his claim to this years unofficial Most Improved Player award. Rams were pushing all their offence through Mark Directo and Efren Cagadas and the two teams battled back and forth throughout the whole half, neither team getting a firm grip on the game and extending to a lead and it finished with Rams holding a single point advantage. Dylan Cody opened the scoring in the third and formed a nice tandem with Fred Roman early on that didn’t see many baskets scored, but resulted in a few trips to the free throw line and Pokerstars edged out to a five point lead but a late score from Francis Go and a gorgeous spinning layup from Mel Valencia brought them back within a basket. The fourth quarter was furiously frenetic, each team trying to make a run and the powerhouse duo of Eric Hibbs and Jonnet grabbed a five point lead but Valencia and Cagadas came firing right back to pull them within one. Down the stretch though, back to back baskets from Roman sealed the win and Pokerstars took a well deserved win to finish off the season in style.
Sinners 41 – 28 Saints
The final round of the ladies league took place this week with the first match between Sinners and Saints. A fairly even first quarter saw Saints Leanne Costa and Jenny Davies run away with a couple of baskets, delighted to take their team ahead by 1 point to end the quarter. With a large bench Sinners struggled to find momentum missing Wendy Owens from the squad, but over the course of the second and third slowly but surely pulled ahead, thanks to some great ball control from Leanne Corlett, and inside moves from Nikki Shimmin. The final quarter was a slower affair, and despite a lovely final basket from Aoife Giles for Saints, Sinners patient experience paid off and they pulled ahead to a more comfortable 41-28 win, although Saints will be pleased with their all round excellent performance and improvement this season.
Buchanan & Pitts Slammers 41 – 47 Fellas
Although the league result was already decided, the spoils of the glory game between between reigning league champions Buchanan and Pitts Slammers and Fellas were anybody's in this tie. Despite some great drives from Emma Callow and Tracey Dentith of Slammers, Amber Carridge was quick off the block in the first to take Slammers by surprise helping her team to a 7 point lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter Sarah Gribben found her form and only two baskets from Fellas in reply for the whole of the second quarter saw the Slammers storm ahead come from behind to take a 30-23 lead. Fellas press style zone defence forced some turnovers, to constantly chip at Slammers lead. Slammers had ! to step back after finding themselves in foul trouble, and with some great back door cuts from Carridge and team mate Danielle Murphy, and Helen Cullen adding to the tally from the line, the Slammers lead started to look shaky. Luckily for Slammers Gribben became unstoppable under the basket, with some lovely rebounds by Katrina Keeling to add to her all round great performance, particularly in defence. Slammers hard work to keep a pumped up Fellas at bay saw them retain a 43-35 lead going into the final quarter. Fellas now desperate to steal the win from under the nose of Slammers pushed up their press defence, forcing turnovers and a few lovely points from both Murphy and Carridge. A late time out and settling words for Slammers were enough to keep Fellas at bay, with Slammers just seconds away from victory. Sarah Gribben was undoubtedly the star of the match, if not the season by ladies scorelines, putting a phenomenal 32 points on the board for Slammers, who will be pleased to take the win and the league title once more.
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