While the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers were playing a crucial game five in the NBA playoffs Thursday night, in St Lucia things also heated up as two Premiere League semi-finals took center court on the Corpus Christi holiday at the Beausejour Indoor Facility.
The evening provided opportunities for both VBCC and defending champions Courts Jets, to book a trip to the finals of this year’s tournament with a win after being up 1-0 in their best of three series encounters.
VBCC made light work of Dennery in the first of their best of three meetings and Courts Jets came back late to win with a narrow two point victory over Babonneau Dynasty in their first game.
The first game of Thursday night’s semi-final double header, featured a must win for Dennery over VBCC to square the series and force a decisive game three on Sunday. Dennery seemed intent on doing so, coming out of the blocks early to lead 8-0 in the first quarter and 16-8 at the end. They continued the hot start and led at the break 36-22.
After the half time interval, a better scoring third quarter had VBCC winning the third by two points, though still down 12 points to begin the fourth. That proved too much a deficit for VBCC. Dennery Dolphins stretched the lead in the fourth and in the end tied the best of three series 1-1 with a final score of 69-51.
For VBCC Warlords, Marcian Calderon had a double double of 16 points (pts) and 14 rebounds (rebs) in their loss. For Dennery, the duo of Kevin Mathurin and Desmond Vidal scored 34 of Dennery’s 69 points-each scoring 17pts towards the much needed win for their club. For their clutch shooting and overall play, they were jointly rewarded the Valley Cold Storage Player of the Game.
Game three and the decider in that series is Sunday at the Beausejour Indoor Facility at 6 pm.
Game two of the evening saw defending champions Courts Jets, attempting to close out Babonneau Dynasty and book their place in yet another final. It seemed another tight game early with several lead changes. However, Jets used all their experience and winning mentality to come away with an 81-71 score margin and be the first finalists in this year’s Premier League Tournament.
A strong performance from both Andre Louison and Ron Dumurville, helped Courts Jets ease past the Dynasty. Ron Dumurville for his 20 pts, six rebs and six steals in the Courts Jets trip to the finals, was named the Valley Cold Storage Player of the Game.
Games continue today (Saturday) in Division One semi-finals with both series tied at one apiece. Both Soufriere and Bois D’ Orange Lions forced game three’s, winning big in their last game versus Combined Schools and ISE Academy. Tipoff time for first game is at 6 pm with Soufriere vs Combined Schools and at 8 pm ISE Academy will try to avenge their first loss of the season versus Bois D’Orange Lions at the Beausejour Indoor Facility. Meanwhile on Sunday at 6 pm, VBCC Warlords will face Dennery Dolphins to decide who faces Courts Jets in the finals of the Premier League.
