Swallowfield take aim at experienced Pistons

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

A pulsating contest is expected today when Swallowfield oppose Eastern Pistons in Game One of their best-of-three finals of the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) Southern Conference Community Basketball League at National Stadium Courts, starting at 7:45 p.m.

The series is expected to be a keenly contested affair as both teams are evenly matched in all departments. Swallowfield secured their place in the finals with a 2-1 series win over Spanish Town Meadows, while the Pistons brushed aside Fire Services 2-0 to book their place.

"We are confident because at the moment the spirit in the camp is very high, and I believe that we have a good shot of winning the series," said Roger Marshall, coach of Swallowfield.

"My team has been playing a bit inconsistent so far, but we are a fighting team and so we are ready for whatever challenge that they might throw at us in this series," he said.

Marshall added: "We are expecting a very tough game from them because they are a seasoned team with a lot of experience players."

Former national striker and shooting guard Kevin Lamey, who is his team's leading scorer this season, will lead Swallowfield's charge for a victory. Lamey is expected to receive good support from Jervis Hamilton, Dean Whittingham and Dwayne Wellington.

Marshall's opposite, Nyron Hurd, is quite optimistic that his team can win the series.

"We are confident because I think we have a more experienced team than our opponents, and I believe that this will play a big part in this series," said Hurd.

Dangerous side

The long-standing coach added that they are not going to take their opponents for granted because they are a very dangerous side.

"Swallowfield have been playing very well so far in this competition and they have come up big whenever they needed to, so we are not going to take them lightly," Hurd said.

He noted: "We have to make sure that we dominate the game from the opening whistle of the match by outscoring them in every quarter."

The Pistons will rest their hopes in the hands of point guard and team leader Michael Johnson, along with the likes of shooting guard Vaughn Chevannes and centre Andrew Goulbourne, to lead their team to a series win.