Post player Afeisha Noel helped Blink Brian Chase Academy exact revenge on Defence Force in the National Basketball Knockout Championships, beating them 72-62 to eliminate the North Zone powerhouse.
The semifinals of the Women's Division match was played at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua on Saturday night. Noel notched a match-high 23 points to lead Brian Chase into the final against Courts Horizon. That match was scheduled for last night at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Pleasantville, San Fernando. Following soon afterwas the Men's final between Detour Shak Attack and Petro Jazz.
Brian Chase, which fell to Defence Force earlier in the competition,took full advantage of the absence of Defence Force's star centre Alicia Liverpool, who missed the match after being suspended two matches for an altercation with Horizon's guard Pietra Gay when the teams met last Sunday. Both players received a disqualifying foul automatically banning them for a match. Following a meeting of officials, it was decided to penalised Liverpool an extra match for her role in the fight. It was a close encounter throughout with Brian Chase holding the lead by one pointafter the first quarter, 13-12.
The second period through the effort of forward Crystal George (23 points) belonged to the army/coastguard combination as they moved ahead 34-26. Brian Chase didn't stay down for long as it fought back and regained 49-47 lead thanks toeffective long-range shooting from Jaime Jack. She ended with 14 points, 12 of which were from behind the three-point arc. For Brian Chase to walk away with knockout title, it will have to beat Horizon twice according to the rules of the double-elimination competition. Horizon have not dropped a match in the eight-team competition.
RESULTSBlink Brian Chase 72 (Afeisha Noel 23, Jaime Jack 14, T Pierre 11) vs Defence Force 62 (Crystal George 23, Stacey Sparks 11, Ayanna Mark 10).