Jaguars, All Stars to contest final

WESTERN BUREAU:

Granville Jaguars and Catherine Hall All Stars have earned the right to contest the best-of-three finals in the Western Conference of the FLOW National Basketball League, by virtue of taking the competition's top two places at the end of an intriguing preliminary round.

The best-of-three finals, which will produce one qualifier for the FLOW All Island championship play-offs, will shoot off tomorrow afternoon at the Montego Bay Cricket Club with Game One, which is slated for a 7 p.m. start. Game Two is slated for Friday and, if necessary, Game Three will be played next week Tuesday.

In last weekend's last round of preliminary games, Jaguars sealed their place atop the standings with a 96-69 win against Inner-City Avalanche, a defeat which relegated them to division one next season. In the second game, Lane Tigers avoided relegation with a hard-fought 59-56 win over Catherine Hall All Stars.

The final points standings at the end of the competition's preliminary round read: Granville Jaguars 21, Catherine Hall All Stars 19, Hoopers 19, Lane Tigers 16 and Inner-City Avalanche 15. Catherine Hall got into the final ahead of defending champions Hoopers by virtue of having the better results in their head-to-head meetings.

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In their game against Avalanche at the Montego Bay Cricket Club on Saturday night, Jaguars won all four quarters to blunt the challenge of Avalanche. They won the first quarter 24-19, the second 15-13, the third 32-20 and the final 25-19.

Dave Black, who had a game-high 32 points, Leroy Lawrence, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Huwayne Blake, who had 16 points, were the chief architects of the Jaguars' win. Cleon Morgan, with 21 points and nine rebounds and Mike Haughton, who had 20 points, were the only bright sparks for Avalanche.