Basketball: League Championship-Premium Cobras take some punches from PLS Hawks |24 May 2005

Defending Men division 1A champions Premium Cobras could not match PLS Hawks’ energy and effectiveness, taking some pretty good punches in a 77-91 defeat.

“It’s unbelievable! We had targeted a win but not by this margin. My players heeded the coaching staff’s advice, played well on defence and had a lot of opportunities on offence. This is the kind of game PLS Hawks want to play,” an all-smiles PLS Hawks’ coach Tony Juliette told Sports Nation after the match.

Trailing by 10 points – 16-26 – at the end of the first quarter, PLS Hawks used a 28-14 second quarter spurt to outplay Premium Cobras and go for the break with a 44-40 lead.

Even though Premium Cobras tried doing everything humanly possible to try and contain PLS Hawks, they had no answers for Omony (22 points) and Nganga (23 points, including five 3-pointers).

Coach Juliette’s PLS Hawks almost shredded their opponents into pieces as they played their own style of basketball with a lot of running as well as swarming, relentless and unselfish defence.

It was probably one of PLS Hawks’ best performances in a while and Premium Cobras could not slow them down.

The only way Premium Cobras could have kept the game close was by limiting PLS Hawks’ possession as they are a team with many offensive weapons. But it never happened. With Bernard Bristol instrumental in defence, PLS Hawks rotated on their zonal and man-to-man defensive strategies to open up a 15-point lead (73-58) at the end of the third quarter.

Premium Cobras who, according to their coach Steve Hoareau, “came into the match with their morale high but forgot what they had to do during the course of the game”, simply didn’t come out to play as they’ve done in past match-ups with PLS Hawks.

Winning the fourth quarter 19-18, they only managed to reduce the deficit by a point -14 – at the final whistle, meaning that if both teams remain undefeated in their remaining matches, Premium Cobras will have to beat their rivals by a 15-point difference, something coach Hoareau has said “is not impossible in basketball”, to be able to keep their title.

Premium Cobras’ Nigerian playmaker Benjamin Adayehi finished with a game-high 25 points including four 3-pointers, while centre Lenny ‘Bad’ Aglaé and captain James Beier added 18 and 13 apiece.

Premium Cobras were not helped with both swingman Cyril Agrippine, scoring in single digit (nine points) for the first time in a while, and back-up playmaker Tony ‘Siro’ Moustache fouling out.

Unbeaten in six games to take over from Baya at the top of the eight-team league table, PLS Hawks had another two players – skipper and power forward Jim Domingue (14 points, 12 coming in the third quarter) and Bristol (10 points) – in double figures.

PLS Dynamics win again

Instead of joining his teammates in celebrating the win, veteran Jim Domingue went to PLS Dynamics’ substitutes bench to coach them to their second consecutive win on a 64-55 score against Cascade Bullets.

Emmanuel Larue top-scored for seventh-placed PLS Dynamics with 16 points, while Cascade Bullets’ Ronny Julienne’s game-high 19 points went to waste.

Beau Vallon shot into third position in the standings with nine points after collecting their third win in six games.

Coach Valli Ismael’s Heat got 18 points from captain Danny Bertin on the way to a 60-53 defeat of winless and basement team Angels whose top scorer was power forward Evans Hollanda with 15 points.

Bel Air get big win

Defending women’s champions Bel Air had no trouble beating Hackers 106-45 to finish the first round of the championship in second place with 11 points, one less than former champions and leaders Anse Etoile Stars.

The Bel Airians had five players – Lindy Aglaé (21 points), Malagasy Lalatiana Razaiarisoa (20), Burtina Désir (19), Jenita Toussaint (18) and Doreen Mirabeau (11) – scoring in double figures.

The win was Bel Air’s fifth in five matches.
Meanwhile, in the Men division 1B championship, MBU Rockers beat Praslin Warrriors 76-52 and Anse Etoile walked over Mont Fleuri Dawgz.

In two men’s second division games, Pointe Larue Falcons defeated Bel Air Blazers 75-63 and La Misère Youth beat RA Herons 64-36.

G. G.