Arnett Rockers raze Fire Service in basketball play-offs
THE 2015 Community Basketball League (CBL) play-offs got off to a rollicking start for Eastern Division unbeaten team Arnett Gardens Rockers who blazed past Fire Service 108-76 in the feature game of a triple-header at the Arnett Gardens Sports Complex.
The Rockers Fire Service match was one of the seven games played in the competition on Sunday.
The second stage of the CBL was launched with an entertaining evening of play between an Eastern Division All-Stars team and a Western All-Stars team in a Southern Conference All-Stars game at the Arnett Gardens Sports Complex on Saturday.
Eastern All-Stars defeated Western All-stars 97-84 with some entertaining play from non-playing members of the crowd that included both women and children who were given intermittent opportunities to join in the fun and shoot baskets, some of which entered the basketball hoop.
The play-offs are played in best-of-three format.
Meanwhile, Arnett Gardens Rockers wasted little time in getting off the mark. Led by 37 points from Kwame Lawrence, the Rockers extended their unbeaten run from the preliminary rounds of the Eastern Division, into the play-offs.
Elsewhere, Western Division second-seed Spanish Town Meadows suffered the ignominy of defeat in their first game by going down narrowly to sixth seed Linkup All-Stars 63-64, who created the first upset as the Southern Conference Playoffs opened at the Edgewater Community Courts.
Both teams were deadlocked at the first quarter at 14-14. However, the eventual winners fell behind at the second and third quarters 13-16 and 13-15, respectively, before taking the fourth quarter 24-18 and going on to land the gambit with the final basket of the evening.
Geoffrey Brown top-scored for Linkup with 17 points, 13 rebounds and Narado Gordon 15 points, 13 rebounds. Brian Martin, with 26 points, 11 rebounds, top-scored for Meadows with Cleon McLean chipping in with 12 points and 17 rebounds.
In the other game at the Edgewater Community Courts, Mega Mart Magics defeated Central Village Strikers 58-50.
In other first round matches at the Arnett Gardens Sports Complex, JDF defeated Eastern Pistons 97-74 and Swift Sons tagged Blazin Panthers 65-47.
At the Upper Room Church in Grant’s Pen, Exed Heats beat Rae Town Raptors 67-53, while Upper Room Church clipped Gortuca Thunder 70-69.
