Basketball: League championship-Pacesetters maintain rhythm |26 April 2005

Anse Etoile Stars 75 ... Mont Fleuri 41

The only unbeaten team in the Women’s League, after their 75 -41 victory over Mont Fleuri last Saturday at the Palais des Sports, Anse Etoile Stars are calling on the rest of the league to give them a ride for their money.
The win over Mont Fleuri came exactly a week after they defeated defending champions Bel Air 59-41. But against Mont Fleuri, things did not look that easy, especially in the first half as they trailed the Mont Fleurians 26-29 at the break.

With four players in double digits – Lucia Souffe (20), Simone Bamboche (17), Genevève Beaudoin and Lindy Mathiot (10 each) – the Stars restricted Mont Fleuri to just 12 points in the second period, while scoring 49 of their own for a convincing win.
Captain Bernadette Songor and veteran Williana Dubois led Mont Fleuri in scoring with 12 points apiece.

After their third consecutive win, the Stars are leading the table with six points, while Mont Fleuri are third with five.

Bel Air 74 ...  Hotshots 41

Defeat for coach Philip Arrisol did not matter that much as his “aim is to prepare the new-look Hot Shots team to become a force to be reckoned with in the future.”

For runners-up Bel Air, they had to win to keep pace with the Stars, but they trailed the less-experienced Hot Shots 10-13 at the end of the final quarter before getting their acts together to win 74- 41.

With quick playmaker Burtina Désir and former Hot Shots’ shooting guard Jenita Toussaint re-discovering their touch beyond the 3-point range, Bel Air went on a 64-28 run in the remaining three quarters to celebrate victory.

Désir finished with a game-high 22 points, including two 3-pointers. Malagasy power forward Lalatiana Razaiarisoa (16) Patricia Samynadin (12) and Lindy Aglaé (11) were the other three Bel Air players in double digits.

For fifth-placed Hot Shots, young Zerah Fontaine got 12 points, two less than captain and centre Tina Aagathine.

Meanwhile, in another midweek women’s league fixture, fourth-placed Cadettes beat Hackers who are in sixth position.

PLS Hawks 113 ... Angels 73

With Angels not in the same league as them, PLS Hawks allowed all-rounder Stephen Omony to rush to his home country Uganda and his teammates, minus unavailable centre Barry Baron who is out through injury, kept firing on all cylinders to reach the century mark in a 113-73 win.

PLS Hawks’ coach Tony Juliette rotated his line-up but still his team did not find any resistance from Angels and at times it even looked like a training session for the former Men division 1A champions.

Despite losing tireless guard Bernard Bristol with a foot injury, Hawks won all four quarters 23-13, 25-16, 23-19 and 32-25 to steamroller Angels.

Quicksilver shooting guard Jefferson Nganga led all scores with 26 points, including a season-high five 3-pointers.

Big men Jim Domingue (21), Neddy Fanchette (15) and Rodney Loze (13) combined for 49 points, while playmaker Thomas Collie added 18.

Even though he has been misfiring from behind the 3-point arc in recent matches, captain and sharp shooter Steven Servina, formerly with PLS Hakws, led Anse Boileau-based Angels in scoring with 18 points.

With six points from three wins in as many matches, the Hawks are second on the table, six places above bottom team Angels.

Baya 85 … SMB Razorback 67

A 30-point third quarter performance for Baya completely changed the course of last Saturday’s game as they rallied back to beat SMB Razorback 85-67 for their third consecutive win since losing to defending champs Premium Cobras in their first match.
After their 61-64 defeat to Beau Vallon Heat, SMB Razorback looked like bringing high-flying Baya down to earth and they took the right option to lead their opponents 34-30 at half-time.

But with SMB Razorback not setting screen for sharp shooter Jean-Paul Camille to attempt open shots, coach Pascal Fostel’s team could not stop Baya from rallying back into the game.

With injured captain Dave Roseline in the stands, Baya had two of their starters in double digits – centre Robert Léon (28) and Nigerian Ugoh (15) – but credit should go to Michael Cupidon who made a big contribution of 19 points, including one 3-pointer, coming off the substitutes’ bench.

Baya are currently leading the pack with seven points, while SMB Razorback, who got 13 points from both Camille and Christopher Dugasse and 11 from skipper and centre Alex Baron, are in fifth position with five.

Cascade Bullets 79 ... Beau Vallon Heat 54

After netting 32 points in the first quarter alone, many thought that Cascade Bullets would reach the century mark against Beau Vallon in last weekend’s final match at the Palais des Sports, but they could not sustain the momentum even though they won 79-54.

Coach Gregoire Scholastique’s Bullets, 68-70 losers to Baya in their previous match, won three of the four quarters as the Heat struggled to hit outside shots with captain and sharp shooter Danny Bertin still unavailable.

Not even the usually lethal Dan Côme was in a good shooting mood for the Bullets with just eight points, but skipper and centre Biko Biong (15), Ronny Julienne (12), playmaker Kenneth Sophie, Martin Arissol and Sandy Julienne (all with 11) helped in the team’s second victory in four games for six points and third place.
Fourth-placed Heat’s Francis Herminie finished with a game-high 18 points but it went to waste in the defeat.

In two Men division 1B matches, Mont Fleuri Dawgz beat LMS Jazz 71-55 and Praslin Warriors delighted their home fans with a 59-54 win over visitors AAP Brothers at the Grand Anse Praslin court.

LMS Youth beat La Misère Youth 65-51 in a men’s second division encounter.

G. G.