The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

EVERYBODY Wins Legends got into the festive mood by putting together their best game of their inaugural year and the Pirates, also making their debut this year, finally got into the winner’s circle as the New Providence Basketball Association closed out the first half of its 2015/16 regular season at the AF Adderley Gymnasium on Friday night.

It was like Christmas for the veteran group of Legends ball players as Everybody Wins out-ran the youthful Real Deal Shockers in a real shocker 101-88 in the feature game as the league closed out for the holidays. In the opener, the Pirates unwrapped a 106-75 gift as they stunned the Double R Services Limited Cleaners in the opener.

The league, headed by newly elected president Eugene Horton, is expected to resume play with the second half in January.

• Here’s a summary of the

two final games played:

Legends 101, Shockers 88

What started out to be a close encounter turned out to be a laughter as Everybody Wins put together a surge in the last five minutes to pull away from a slim 73-72 margin into the rout. 

The Real Deal, who had earlier lost forward Jermaine Bethel to five fouls, saw the ejection of  guard Martin Conliffe and technical fouls assessed to coach James Price and his bench as the Legends went to work, using their experience down the stretch behind the 1-2 punch of Corey Walkes and Clayton ‘Smiley’ Miller, who both played all but four minutes of the game.

With the win, Everybody Wins improved to 2-3 for fifth place in the John Archer Division, while the loss dropped the Shockers to 2-2 for fifth place as well in the Vince Ferguson Division.

For the Legends, coach Donnie Culmer said it was all about playing smart basketball.

“We had a very good enough even though we were short of players,” he said. “These guys came and they gritted it out. Once we stay together and don’t let our egos get in the way, we should be okay. These are smart basketball players. It’s just a matter of them getting back into basketball shape. In every game, except one, we led up to the fourth quarter when fatigue took over. But once we get in shape, we will be alright.”

Walkes, connecting on 13-of-25 shots from the field and 11-of-17 from the free throw line, was all business as he darted in and outside of the Real Deal defence to post a double-double with a game high 37 points and 14 rebounds. He also had three block shots and as many steals. Miller had enough to keep him smiling as well on his 7-of-20 shooting from the field, 2-of-8 from behind the three-point arch and 6-of-11 from the foul line for 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Rodney Rolle helped out with 21 points and 12 rebounds and versatile Lorenzo Carter contributed 11 points with six rebounds and four assists,

For the Shockers, Salathiel Dean had 18 points and a game high 16 rebounds with four assists, three steals and a block in 31:36 minutes minutes. He canned 4-of-8 shots from the three-point line and was 6-for-12 from the field and 2-for-3 from the foul line. Crosley Wilmore had 15 points and four assists, Diangelo Woodside came off the bench to score 13 points with seven rebounds, Kamal Murphy had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, Vernal Johnson also came off the bench with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists and Jermaine Bethel added 10 points with four rebounds before he fouled out.

Before their collapse in the fourth quarter, the Real Deal was right in the thick of things. They led 20-18 after the first quarter and held onto a 40-35 advantage at the half. But it was the tale of two stories in the second half as Everybody Wins went on a 26-18 surge to go up 61-58 at the end of the third. The lead changed sides in the fourth until the final five minutes when the Legends experience took over the youthful Shockers.

The Real Deal held a slim 55-54 advantage in rebounding, but they made 24 turnovers compared to 16 by the Legends.

Pirates 106, Cleaners 75

If only coach Jarret Bullard could have gotten this type of effort in their previous three games, they could have been the talk of the league. But they can take solace in the fact that they have finally gotten into the win column and they did it in grand style.

After going on a 30-12 tear in the first quarter, the Pirates extended their margin to 55-28 at the half. They led 75-49 at the end of the third and used a 31-26 spurt in the fourth to stay on top.

“We had a team meeting, we put a lot of things aside and we had a good week of practice,” said Bullard, as he had a balanced scoring attack. “I told them, it isn’t how you start, but it’s how you finish. I was confident in the things that we did tonight and I told them that they have to trust in what we are doing and trust in each other. That’s the only way you can build on your success. If each five are accounted for the other five men on the court, we will get it done. We preserved through our adversities.”

And although they are on a Christmas break, Bullard said it’s important for his team not to rest on their laurels, but rather continue to put in the work because it’s “just one win. We still still have a long season to go. So in order to continue to succeed, we have to put in the work.”

Kronoff Dean led the attack with 24 points and four assists in about 30 minutes as he was 8-for-14 from the field, 5-of-8 from the three-point line and 3-for-3 from the foul line. Tevin Hudson had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes off the bench, Jeffery Rolle had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Terrance Brown also had 16 points with three rebounds, Rashad Gardiner added 10 points and four rebounds and Raif Ferguson chipped in with seven points.

The Pirates, who now sit in sixth place in the Vince Ferguson Division, were out-rebounded 46-42 by Double R Services Limited, who fell to 1-3 for seventh in the John Archer Division. The Cleaners, however, had one more turnover (17-16) than the Pirates, who got the job done offensively.