Basketball: National League – Men’s Division Two   Cascade Bullets shoot down Anse Royale to leapfrog AB Boys |27 July 2022

Barely 24 hours after moving to the top of the league table on Monday night, AB Boys have been replaced by Cascade Bullets who defeated Anse Royale last night to climb into first position with a one point advantage.

Before last night’s match, Cascade Bullets were trailing AB Boys by a single point and last night’s win steered the players of coach Biko Biong into the top spot with 13 points from six wins and a single defeat, compared to AB Boys who have so far collected maximum 12 points from six matches and have a game in hand.

In yesterday’s encounter, Bullets had the upper hand right from the beginning, outscoring Anse Royale 15-6, before snatching the second period 11-8 to lead 26-14 at half-time.

Taking things a bit too casual and making some silly mistakes, Bullets gave Anse Royale the opportunity to outscore them 16-9 in the third quarter, cutting down their lead to 35-30 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, coach Biong, along with his assistant Vali Ismael rethought their strategies and the advices fell into good ears as Bullets managed to score 23 more points, compared to only five for Anse Royale, concluding the match with a 58-35 victory.

Big man Eddy Servina had the hot hands for Bullets with 21 points, while with 10 points captain Ryan Volcere led the scoring for Anse Royale.

AB Boys glide past Baba to stay unbeaten

Anse Boileau-based team AB Boys are second and still unbeaten in their six matches played so far, and in their last league match on Monday, they were up against the young kids from the Bel Air Basketball Academy (Baba), and for the former, the encounter was just a formality to collect two extra points.

However, Baba, who have collected two wins so far in the league – 49-47 over MBU Boys and 45-40 over Mont Fleuri Ballerz – put up some strong resistance, displaying some quality basketball, with good basic fundamentals.

A more-experienced AB Boys won the first quarter 19-6, before clinching the second 18-6 to lead 37-12 at half-time.

In the third quarter, AB Boys maintained their dominance on the young Baba side, winning 22-9, stretching their lead to 59-21.

For the fourth and final quarter of the match, AB Boys fielded their bench players, giving them the opportunity to have a feel of the match and Baba seized the opportunity to outscore them, winning the quarter 13-6 to end the match on a 65-34 victory as AB Boys celebrated victory.

AB Boys now have collected maximum 12 points from six victories in as many matches, keeping them second on the table, above third-placed Anse Etoile who are on nine points after four wins and one defeat in five matches played.

As for Baba, they are now seventh on eight points, following two wins and four defeats out of six matches played.

Justin Dodin scored eight points to lead the scoring for Baba, while Michael Agathine was AB Boys’ top scorer with 21 points.

Two wins in two matches for Praslin Boys

Due to logistic reasons, Praslin Boys played two of their league matches over the weekend, registering victories in both, defeating PLS Suns and St Louis Saints to push themselves into sixth place on the league table on eight points.

In five matches played so far in the league, the inner island side registered three wins and two defeats.

Against PLS Suns, the boys of coach Andy Niole were slow to get in the game, losing the first quarter 13-20, before redeeming themselves in the second period of the match, outscoring PLS Suns 18-8 for a 31-28 advantage at half-time.

A well-balanced third quarter saw the Praslin side slightly having the upper hand, winning it 18-17, extending their lead to 49-45.

In the decisive fourth and final quarter, Praslin Boys managed to chip in another 18 points compared to 14 for PLS Suns, giving the former a 67-59 victory.

Captain Perry Pointe and Sandro Souffe each scored 11 points for Praslin Boys, while Kelvin Nourice netted 11 points to finish as PLS Suns’ top scorer.

In their second match against St Louis Saints, the Praslin side dominated the first quarter 21-9, before winning the second period of the match 17-16 for a 38-25 advantage at half-time.

Praslin Boys applied more pressure on their opponents in the third quarter, winning it 18-9 to extending their lead to 56-34.

St Louis Saints, however managed to improve their game in the final quarter of the match, winning it 20-17, but the damage had already been done in the first three quarters as Praslin Boys ran away 73-54 victors.

Souffe was once again the top score for Praslin Boys with 24 points, while Wayne Dogley scored 12 points to lead the scoring for St Louis Saints.

Roland Duval