Wolfpack, Warriors in crucial clash today

Western Bureau:

The last two semi-final places in 2011-12 Western Basketball Association (WBA) Division One League will be decided today when Granville Wolfpack and Montego Bay Boys Club Warriors meet in a crucial rescheduled game at Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts, starting at 4 p.m.

Montego Bay Lions, who have completed their fixture with seven points, are in third place but they could be knocked out of the semi-final race, based on which team emerges victorious from today's Wolfpack and Warriors face-off.

"A win for Warriors would see them advancing alongside Wolfpack. However, a win for Wolfpack would see them advancing alongside Lions," said Deon Williams, the competition coordinator. "Regardless of today's result, all three teams will finish on seven points, leaving the results of their head-to-head clash in the preliminary round to decide which two teams advance."

The points standing going into today's deciding game reads as follows: Lucea Flames - 9, MoBay Knights - 8, MoBay Lions - 7, Wolfpack - 6, Warriors - 6 and Spartan - 3.

Last weekend, Montego Bay Cricket Club Knights joined favourites Lucea Flames in the semi-finals, despite suffering a close 58-55 loss to Warriors in their game at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts.

Lions, who desperately need a win to stay in contention for a semi-final place, got the points they needed without taking the court as their opponents (Spartans) failed to show for their game. In addition to the two points, they were awarded the game 20-0.

"There seems to be some problems in the Spartan camp as their players have now failed to show for two consecutive games," said Williams. "Their fixtures are now completed so they will no longer impact the competition."

In the game between Knights and Flames, it was quite a ding-dong battle. Warriors won the first two quarters by 13-5 and 14-12 margins, which turned out to be enough to stave off the Knights, who won the other two quarters 24-20 and 14-11 margins.

Sheldon Lyle and Fabian Gifford, with 28 and 10 points, respectively, were the outstanding players for the Warriors, while Fitzroy Gordon and Christopher Smith, with 18 and 16 points each, played well but in vain for the Knights.

The semi-finals, which will see the first-place finishers from the preliminary round playing third place and second place playing fourth, will be two-way affairs with each team having a home game. The two winners will contest the best-of-three finals.

The eventual champions will qualify for the National Basketball League western Championship, which will commence in late November.

- A.F.