Laventille seals first spot in Hoop of Life final

Super 10’s reigning MVP, Stephen “Lighter” Lewis and his Laventille teammates secured an envied spot in the $1.5 million Hoop of Life Community Basketball League final, after the tournament favourite stunned La Romaine, 81-80, in the end of a thrilling second-leg semifinal encounter, on Sunday.

The battle, which saw Laventille come-from-behind in the dying moments of the deciding quarter with a brilliant 8-1 run, was staged Lucky Street in front of scores of enthusiastic supporters, who were inevitably left disappointed.

Laventille hosted the first leg and won the encounter 92-89, on Friday night. It required La Romaine, with its home court advantage to win the 

second leg by four points. The host seemed well and truly on its way to doing so, but for the brilliance of Lewis and his colleague Sheldon Christian sinking four points each with just 43 seconds remaining.

La Romain had, in fact, held a convincing lead at the end of the first three quarters, 26-19, 43-32 and 64-54, before the visitor saved its best for last.

The final buzzer sounded to end the match with the 200-plus away fans flooding the court, where they played drums and burst fire crackers to celebrate their community’s triumph.

Lewis, the country’s most celebrated player in recent times, ended the match with 34 points, the same figure as in the first semifinal, while Christian and centre Ashton DeMurrell finished on 13 points each.

For La Romaine guard Derrick Boxhill struggled with 19 points and played the final quarter with four fouls. Adrian Joseph top scored with 21 points.

La Romaine will now play for the $250,000 third place prize against the loser between Marabella and Caledonia, which will be decided on Wednesday in La Romaine. 

​