JAMALCO stop Waulgrovians in heavyweight clash
FORMER champions JAMALCO defeated many-time champions Waulgrovians ‘A’, 72-59, to be the first team to qualify for the Berger/JNA Super League competition at the National Arena on Tuesday.
From the win, the Winston Nevers -coached, Clarendon-based aggregation moved to the top of the point standings with 37 points from nine games. They face sister company WINDALCO as their last opponents this evening at the Scotia Bank Centre at Liguanea, starting at 6:00.
Defending champions Tivoli ‘A’ also came out with a fighting 43-36 win over WINDALCO to place themselves in second position with 36 points, also from nine games, with 12-time winners Waulgrovians ‘A’ to face in their final game in the preliminary rounds.
Waulgrovians, on the other hand, are in third place with 35 points and are still awaiting a long-standing postponed encounter with champions Tivoli ‘A’ to be played. This game should determine who will be the team to face JAMALCO in the three-match series final.
Meanwhile, the competition’s committee is still awaiting the postponed game between Tivoli A and Waulgrovian. It is said the game should be arranged between both coaches. Waulgrovians defeated Tivoli, 47-45, in their first meeting.
However, all three teams have lost two games apiece and this has brought a lot of excitement to the Super League. JAMALCO avenged their 55-54 defeat at the hands of Waulgrovians at the National Arena.
Tuesday’s game between Waulgrovians and JAMALCO was an interesting clash as the teams had a fairly even duel, with the scores tied on 12 occasions in the first quarter, with both shooters Elaine Davis of JAMALCO and Jhenielle Fowler of Waulgrovians trading goals frequently. The quarter ended at 17-17.
The second quarter continued with the teams tying the scores eight times before Waugrovians went up 27-16. They scored on JAMALCO’s centre pass and added a further two goals to go in front, 29-26.
JAMALCO quickly took a time-out to halt the scoring progress of their opponents. With a 30-26 lead, Waulgrovians held the upperhand, but their rivals played themselves back in contention with four unanswered goals to draw level, 30-30.
But JAMALCO soon went clear by three goals, 33-30, and went into the half-time break leading, 35-33. Davis netted 64 goals from 71 attempts, while Fowler scored 55 points from 63 attempts.
Meanwhile, Tivoli ‘A’ had to stave off a spirited challenge from WINDALCO before pulling away to register a handsome 43-36 win.
The semi-finals of the Division ‘B’ League will be played this afternoon between Ravens ‘B’ and Ocho Rios Magics at 5:45 and Waulgrovians ‘C’ vs Job’s Lane at 6:45 at the Leila Robinson Courts. The final is scheduled for Saturday.
In the quarter-finals played last Saturday, Ravens ‘B’ beat OMEGA ‘A’, 24-18; Job’s Lane United defeated Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) 34-28; Waulgrovians ‘A’ brushed aside SPEG ‘B’, 32-17, while Ocho Rios Magics got the better of Leiba Gardens, 34-30.