New imports Kurt ‘Koto’ Christian and Adrian Joseph showed their value to the Caledonia Clippers outfit combining to see their team to victory in game one of the Men's First Division final in the North Zone Basketball League on Friday night.
The guards entertained the small crowd gathered to bear witness at the Jean Pierre Complex in Mucurapo, leading Clippers to a 72-69 win over a fighting Straker Nets outfit, which made a late charge but still went under in the intense affair.
"Before the game we spoke about - the finals are the finals - so you have to come out here, more than anything else and be mentally ready and I think we were mentally ready and we came out here and got the win," said Joseph, who along with Christian each netted a team-high 15 points to go up 1-0 in the best-in-three series final. It was Nets first loss of the season despite the effort of guard Triston Benjamin, who notched a match-high 24 points.
Straker Nets finished the regular season 5-0 and then swept Brian Chase Academy 2-0 in the best-in-three semi final series. However, they were not ready for the likes of Christian and Joseph, whose penetration game and shooting paid dividends.
" I just tried to stay focused every possession of the game and capitalise whether it is me or my teammates and get the best out of every possession of the game," said Joseph.
Their impact was felt early as Clippers led at the end of the first quarter, 20-13, pushing that lead to 11 (40-29) at the halfway mark. In the third period, Straker through the efforts of speedy Benjamin and pint-size point guard Joel Hinds (13), started to chip away at the lead and trailed by eight (50-42) heading into the fourth quarter.
The momentum remained in favour of the Nets in the final session as they came within two (65-67) with under a minute to go. The diminishing of their team's advantage lit a fire under both Christian and Joseph as they attacked the basket and were fouled repeatedly in the process. They were a bit shaky on the free-throw line but they did enough to maintain control of the sea-saw match.
"Teams will go on runs and you know we just have to stay poised and maintain our composure and just withstand the run and then come back and make our run," said Joseph, who is quite aware that his team will have to improve on both ends of the court if they are to close out the series in Game 2 on Sunday from 8 pm at the same venue.
"We just have to capitalize on our mistakes that we made, fewer turnovers, more offensive rebounds and capitalise on the lay-ups that we missed tonight (Friday) so again it's just about protecting our bodies, being ready and most importantly coming out with the win in game two."
<Shak Attack, SpartansTT series level>
Earlier though, the final contest for the Men's Second Division title will unfold after SpartansTT levelled the series to force a game three.
It was thanks to the performance of forwards young Nkosi Corbin and Shornell Pompey, who combined to score 70 points to see Spartans triumphed over Detour Shak Attack, 109- 83 in game two. Corbin notched a match-high 36 and Pompey poured in 34 for Spartans, who lost the opening match of the series 93-88 on Wednesday night.
Though in a losing effort, for the second time, it was one of the Elder brothers who led Shak Attack, unlike game one, this time it was Jabari who top-scored with 17 and his sibling Jahiem was second-best with 16.
The second division decider jumps off at 6 pm following game two of the Women's Division final from 4 pm. Police will be aiming to close out the series against Brian Chase Academy after winning game one on Wednesday, 64-63 in overtime.
RESULTS
Men's First Division
CLIPPERS 72 (Kurt Christian 15, Adrian Joseph 15, Kirk Baptiste 11) vs STRAKER NETS 69 (Tristan Benjamin 24, Joel Hinds 13). Quarter scores: 1st. 20-13, 2nd. 40-29, 3rd. 50-42 (All in favour of Clippers)
Men's Second Division
SPARTANS 109 (Nkosi Corbin 36, Shornelle Pompey 34) vs SHAK ATTACK 83 (Jabari Elder 17, Jahiem Elder 16, Ancil Ollivierre 14) Quarter scores: 1st. 29-27, 2nd. 50-35, 3rd. 80-52. (All in favour of Shak Attack)