Lucea Flames cop division one title

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Lucea Flames rebounded from Saturday night's surprise Game Two loss to Granville Wolfpack and crowned themselves 2011 Western Basketball Association (WBA) division one champions with a comfortable 64-55 Game Three win on Sunday night at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts.

Flames, which had taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series after their 66-55 Game One win, were surprised in Saturday night's Game Two when Wolfpack levelled the series 1-1 with a 60-65 win.

However, on Sunday, Flames burned brightly as they took Game Three 64-55 to close out a 2-1 series win.

"After losing our unbeaten record on Saturday night, we were determined not to lose again," said Flames star player Craig Dorman, who emerged the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

"We also saw ourselves as the best team in the tournament, and winning this title confirms it," he added.

By virtue of taking the division one crown, the Kirk Dorman-coached Flames, a long-standing contender in western Jamaica's basketball, have now earned qualification for next year's National Basketball League (NBL) Western Championship.

Unlike Saturday night when they started out quite slowly and paid the price trying to play catch-up, Flames started with a bang on Sunday night by winning the first quarter 19-8. Wolfpack rebounded to win the second quarter 20-12. However, the resolute Flames sealed victory by winning the third and fourth quarters 18-16 and 15-11, respectively.

As usual, Craig Dorman led from the front for Flames with 21 points. He was ably supported by Julian Walker, who was next best with 17 points. André Uter emerged the top man for Wolfpack, sharing a game-high 21 points with Dorman.

first-quarter surprise

On Saturday, Wolfpack were quite sharp and looked to have had the measure of the previously unbeaten Flames. In fact, they were quite clinical in the first quarter, which they won comprehensively by a 25-8 margin.

In the second and third quarters, Wolfpack slowed down somewhat and were outscored 15-10 and 21-14 by the resurgent Flames. However, in the final quarter, the teams ended 16-16, which was enough to give Wolfpack victory.

Daniel Palmer emerged the top player for Wolfpack, getting 24 points. Davion Thelwell and Uter, who ended as the tournament's leading scorer, also got in on the act, scoring 15 and 11 points, respectively. Dorman got 35 points as Flames stumbled to their lone defeat of the season.

The winning Flames team read: Julian Walker, Orlando Greenfield, Cecil Cole, Craig Dorman, Alrick Haughton, Norbeto Minto, Courtney Allen, Sheldon Myrie, Romain Ebanks and Cordell Gordon.