Flames, Wolfpack in tomorrow's final

Western Bureau:Lucea Flames and Granville Wolfpack, who both qualified for the finals of the 2011/12 Western Basketball Association (WBA) Division One League last weekend, will square off in Game One of their best-of-three finals tomorrow afternoon at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts, starting at 5 o'clock.

"We are expecting a keenly contested game as based on the performances of the two teams this season, we believe they are two capable teams," said Deon Williams, the competition coordinator. "Game Two will be played next Saturday and, if needed, a Game Three will be played next Sunday."

In last weekend's scheduled semi-final games, Flames secured their place in the finals without having to take the court as their opponents Montego Bay Lions failed to show for their Game One at Watson Taylor Park in Lucea, on Saturday. Lions also forfeited the second game, which was slated for the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts on Sunday.

In the other semi-final match-up, Granville Wolfpack advanced after two intriguing games against Montego Bay Knights on Saturday and Sunday at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts.

In Saturday's Game One, Wolfpack defeated Montego Bay Cricket Club Knights 96-82. However, in Sunday's Game Two Knights returned the favour with a close 68-64 win. Wolfpack nonetheless advanced to the finals by virtue of their superior average score in the two games.

In Game One, which was dominated by Wolfpack, they won the first quarter 24-13 and the second 23-21. Knights took the third quarter impressively by a 30-20 margin, but Wolfpack stormed back to take the final quarter 29-18 for their comfortable 96-82 win.

outstanding players

Davion Thelwell, with a game-high 28 points, Andre Uter, who got 20 and Daniel Malcolm, with 16, were the outstanding players for Wolfpack. Jamoi Richards and Lemar Mitchell, with 23 and 22 points, were quite good in the Knights' losing effort.

In Game Two, Wolfpack won the first two quarters by 18-15 and 18-12 margins. However, Knights sparkled in the third quarter, taking it 21-8. In the final quarter, Wolfpack stormed back to secure a 20-20 tie, which meant that while Knights won the game, they did not completely erase the Game One 14-points deficit.

Fitzroy Gordon, with 25 points and Richards, who got 18, were the top performers for the Knights. Uter, with 23 points; and Dwayne Keane, with 14, did well for Wolfpack, whose combined semi-final score was 160 to Knights' 150.

In addition to having the distinction of being the Division One champions, the eventual winners will earned qualification to participate in the 2011-12 National Basketball League (NBL) western Championship.