Horizon

Meanwhile, Waves copped third place by delivering a similar thrashing to the Rivers who ended the competition without a victory from their eight games.

The final was competitive right up to two minutes before the end of the first quarter when Horizon went on a 10-2 run to open up a 12-point lead.

After that, it was basically one-way traffic as Horizon increased their lead in each subsequent quarter leading 59-47 and 83-68, before emphatically retaining their title.

Gray was named MVP but he was supported by Asaad Woods and Rasheed Maynard Woods who scored 18 and 17 points, respectively.

 Da'Rell Dominek scored 30 points and Jayrn Johnson 22 for the Storm, but could have done with a big game from their best player Brandon BDot Armstrong, who scored only six points in what was his worst game of the tournament.

"(I) feel pretty elated tonight. We had done it in the summer and this is the winter league and we are able to pull off another championship again,” said Horizon head coach Cleon Morgan.

“We came out tonight looked a little bit smoother even though we started off a little sloppy but regardless of that we picked up back the pace and we maintained the lead all the way till the end of the game."

Storm’s head coach, Oneil Brown, said his team did not play to win.

"Actually, a lot of us struggled. I think the guard play; Horizon had better guard play than us tonight,” he said.

“Their guards outscored us and you can see the score at the end. I am disappointed in my team. If it wasn't for Da'Rell we'd by down by 40 and the game would be long over but it has been a good season, ups and down and we looking forward for next year."

In the playoff for third, Waves came prepared to close out the championship with a win after narrowly missing out on a place in the final.

They dominated Rivers in every quarter and category - three-pointers, blocks, free throws and defense. They led 30-12, 52-33, 82-67 before closing out the victory 110-86.

Lushane Wilson scored 27 points and Cameron Burhannon 26 points for Waves while Ricky Shuford had a game-high 35 points and the dependable Anthony Ottleym 14, for Rivers.

"It was a good game but it was one of the toughest games of the season for us mentally. I am really proud of the guys because I was worried,” said Waves coach Rohan Robinson afterwards.

“They said they wanted to finish it off strong, they’re not going out like losers. They are looking forward again to the next tournament in the summer."

After leading Rivers to yet another disappointing loss, Ludlow Barker hopes to get another chance at coaching in the league.

"I think if we going to have the rosters and we can select some more of the players then. If we can choose the kind of team we need then we will get a chance but if you have to play with those you are given then you have to work with it," he said.

League owner Wayne Dawkins was pleased with the tournament stating that the league was here to stay.

"The level of talent we were able to attract down here was extremely high,” he said.

“Our coaching staff did a phenomenal job, our table staff and everybody else, because we really have to get that down in order to be able to scale and grow this thing and so that I was very pleased with."

Waves edged Storm 91-87 while Horizon defeated Rivers 105-86 in the second match of the day.

Waves led 19-17 after the first quarter and 42-36 at the half-way mark. Waves intensified their defensive play in the third quarter to widen the lead to nine points 63-54 at the end of the third. However, Storm stormed back in the fourth outscoring Waves 33-28 after the latter had opened a 16-point lead at the start of the closing stanza.

The rally excited the crowd but was not enough to overcome the deficit in the end.

Lushane Wilson led the scoring with 29 points for Waves. He got support from Nathan Akade’s 16 points and Tyran Walker’s 15. Jayrn Johnson had 24 points and Brandon Armstrong 20 for Storm. Crowd favourite Walker, who had several blocks in the game, revealed afterwards that he was intent on pulling out all the stops for the victory.

"(I was) trying to go out and get a win, doing anything it takes to get a win, be scrappy defensively, just trying to make a statement going into the play-offs,” he said.

“It’s a tough team, the Storm. They are going be a problem in the play-offs, if we end up playing them.”

Storm's assistant coach Simon Brown was naturally disappointed at the defeat.

I’ll be dead honest; I personally believe that the only reason that we lost tonight is because shots that we normally score we didn't start hitting them till the fourth quarter. Simple as that,” he said. "We have to get back to a mental game. Start learning to settle and to be calm in moments like this so that we can step up. Those turnovers came out of frustration rather than out of poor play."

 Coach Brown promised that despite the loss, his team still have their eyes on the top prize.

"What you can expect is the championship,” he said.

“We going all the way to the top. We don't care if it’s the first, second or fourth-place team, whoever we get in front of us our plan is to beat them, play smarter basketball and I think we can take it all."

In the second match of the night Horizon and Rivers were locked on 43 points apiece at the half-way mark. Rivers led by one after the quarter 21-20 but then the Horizon settled down and never looked back.

They outscored Rivers 30-16 to close the third quarter 73-59 and while Rivers tried to stage a comeback in the final quarter ended up losing 105-86.

Bobby Gray led the scoring for Horizon with 35 points while the Rivers' Anthony Ottley had a game-high 38 points.

“It was great. It was a team effort, team win, that's what it takes to bounce back after a loss,” said Gray, whose team lost to Waves in their previous match. You got to play together and believe in yourselves.”

The next set of matches are scheduled for Friday (January 27) beginning at 6:00 pm when the second and third place teams battle for a place in the final and in the other match, the top team in the league will take on the fourth place team for the final spot.

Brandon Armstrong scored 32 for Storm in a most-compelling encounter.

Horizon, meanwhile, battered the winless Rivers 112-87 in the second semi-final.

Rivers will play Waves in a play-off for third.

Played in front of a vociferous group of spectators, the Storm/Waves game featured end-to-end action and almost constant lead changes in what many described as the game of the tournament.

Waves enjoyed the largest lead, six points, over Storm at the end of the third quarter, an advantage that was quickly erased by the second minute of the of the final quarter.

“I must commend my team. They played their hearts out,” said Storm’s head coach O’Neil Brown.

“We played this team twice since this season, this is the third game and I told my guys going into this match if one team beat you three times it means they are better then you.

“The last game when I watched over and over again we saw that when we play with two ‘bigs’, it kind of give us problems guarding the perimeter ‘cause the Waves like to shoot threes so we decided at the end of the game that we were going to go small and force them to go small and it worked out for us."

Brown said he was confident of his team’s chances against the defending champion in the final.

 “I feel great and this going into the finals. We are confident that we can pull it off. This lifts the guys’ morale and we can't wait for Sunday to come," Brown said.

Losing coach Rohan Robinson was naturally despondent.

“Well, it’s simple. You could see the team prepared for us.  You play a team twice and you beat them, you can do so much and no more,” he said.

“If you prepare yourself you will come out the victor. I told them if we cannot get a chance to prepare ourselves and we not playing together when things are tough we not going get through."

The second match of the night between Horizon and Rivers went as expected with Horizon winning by 25 points as Bobby Gray scored 23 points in tandem with Rasheed Maynard and Asaad Wood, who each scored 19 points.

They led at the end of every quarter and were ahead by as many as 35 points in the third quarter.

Rivers outscored Horizon 27-17 in the fourth quarter but it provided little consolation.

Rivers’ Anthony Ottley scored 24 with support from Ricky Shuford 17 and Tre Brewer 16.

 "It was a pretty good game. We have played them about four times. We weren't surprised that we were able to pull out another victory tonight, not really a strong opponent but nevertheless, we were able to pull a victory and I am proud of the team tonight" said Horizon’s coach Cleon Morgan.

River’s coach Tesfa Milligen is hopeful his team can win third place on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, another rough night. We still have one more game left which is for third place so hopefully we can put it together and play a full 48 minutes of competitive team basketball and come out with a W," he said.

The third place -off and final will tip off on Sunday, January 29. The first match begins at 6:00 pm and the final set for at 8:00 pm.  The day's activity will actually start at 2:00 pm with several exhibition matches featuring high school girls and boys teams.

Horizon started out slowly while taking three minutes to score its first point and ending the quarter 18 to Waves' 26. Waves outscored them in the second quarter as well and lead by as many as 23 to close the quarter at 34-57. Horizon picked up the scoring in the third quarter but was still behind (60-73) at the end. Horizon continued to make inroads in the fourth quarter but jut could not get the win. The match went to the Waves 88-83 who won by just five points. The Waves's Cameron Burhannon (37 points) was on fire throughout the game while Bobby Gray (22 points), was the top scorer for Horizon. 

Waves and Horizon now have four wins each after playing five matches while defeating each other once in the league so far. The will next meet in the play-off to see who the finalists will be. 

Waves' coach Rohan Robinson was pleased with the win, "well it was a good one (match). We watched the game (the first game and saw the mistakes). We went back to the drawing board and said that the guys have to live up to their responsibility and live up to role and as a result of that we gained a 26-point lead, then we had some issues with persons playing too much minutes. I allowed the bench to give them as much rest as possible but I am just disappointed a bit that when the bench came in they couldn't hold the lead. I am going to hold my leaders accountable for how we finished the game because we should not be in that position again." He made special mention of 7-footer Tyran Walker who was injured early in the league, for having a very good game. 

Horizon's coach Cleon Morgan accepted the loss but thinks that its good for the team at this stage of the competition. "We have lost tonight but we have a four-game win streak which was pretty good for us. I think there are two matches to go. Losing at this point is good for the team as we can go back to the drawing board, look at our mistakes tonight and work on that so we can come back again play how we are used to playing." He was happy to reduce the Waves' win margin to just five after being down by 26 in the third quarter. 

The second match of the night was eagerly awaited as everyone in the Arena willed the Rivers to get their first win.  They came close to doing so several times but faltered by the way after being in good positions with healthy leads but it was another night of disappointment for them. The Storm put on a show while winning every quarter 21-15, 58-38, 78-62 and 102-79 to take the match by 23 points.  The top scorers in the match were - Storm's Brandon "Bdot" Armstrong with 23 points and Rivers' Anthony Ottley 27 points. 

Armstrong credited his team for the win "it was great overall match.  It was the first time we had a full squad, no injuries so I knew that we were going to come out playing well, playing well defensively, and moving the ball. This is our best complete game from starting number to the fourteenth person on the bench. I must give credit to my teammates." 

The next set of matches are scheduled for Wednesday (January 25) when four-time winner Waves will take on the Storm (2 wins) at the National Arena at 6:00 pm. The 8:00pm match-up will see the defending champion Horizon taking on Rivers who is still seeking their first win.