Unit Trust Maloney Pacers women sweep prizes

LIKE their men’s First Division clubmates, Unit Trust Maloney Pacers women completed the sweep of all titles in their division when they beat Police 53-41 in the Knock-Out final at the Maloney Indoor Sport Arena. The Pacers shared division honours in the inaugural season last year with the Brian Chase Academy. However they were keen to emulate the form of the First Division team that captured all three crowns in the league’s first two seasons. The women are now the reigning League and Knock-Out champions. Led by Latoya Lawson with a match-high 22, Pacers were spurred on by Mahalia Simpson’s shooting which had her hit four three-pointers on the way to a well taken 17 point tally.

Police had Avis McIntosh, 13, and Peggy Ann Brown, ten, on the scorecard but they did not factor in the final result. The league season has been dominated by three teams in three divisions. But on Thursday, Second Division Sweato Ball Jammers threatened to upset this lopsided scale when they beat previously undefeated Brian Chase Academy Veterans 75-68 in Game One of their Big Four best of three series. The Veterans trailed 36-29 at the half time interval and came up for a last breath at the end of the third quarter to tie the score at 53 but were drowned by Brent Gordon, 21, Kevin Edwin, 15, Andy Belfon, 14 and Dane Cummings, 11 who all contributed to the Sweato tsunami. For the Brian Chase Academy Veterans the loss may have been a misstep but Derrick “Cornbread” James with 19, Colin Phillip (18) and Ian “Poison” Gomes (15) points were anxious on setting up a Game Three with a reassuring, match-winning performance on the weekend.

In Game One of the Rooks Engineering Warriors/Valencia Heat series, Warriors got a jump on their opponents and were the more comfortable of the pair after a 87-80 cooling of the Heat. Kern Dottin’s  21 points were the top score for the Warriors and supporting performances from Lawrence Fyfield (14), Hayden Houlder (13) and Clint Adams (13) gave them a slim 35-34 lead at the half and win. Fabrice Fisher, forever a thorn in his opponent’s side, made good on his notoriety and scored a match-high 24 points. But the Johnson’s Finishing School player could not inspire his team to similar feats and their best effort from Stefon Davis (19), Marlon Young (12) and Kyle Williams (11) left them wanting for a better start to their end of season programme.