76.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesLakers Take Tim Duncan Division Finals Opener 55-34

Lakers Take Tim Duncan Division Finals Opener 55-34

Feb. 25, 2007 — The Lakers showed why they went undefeated this season by exploding past upset-minded Guidance 55-34 Saturday night in the first game of their division finals.
The teams play in the Tim Duncan 13-to-15 age group division of the Ronald Charles Basketball Association youth league.
For most of the first half, Guidance, which had to play the night before, showed a lot of grit in staying with the powerful Lakers, who had the whole week off. But fatigue took its toll in the second half, and they just could not keep up with the visibly fresher Lakers squad.
The Lakers were led by Jonathan Fontanelle with 17 points and four boards, while Eddsson Peters netted 14 points with four rebounds. For Guidance, Jemille Vialet had a game-high 22 points and hauled down 10 rebounds, and Shaquille Joseph finished with six points and 10 boards.
Eastsiders 54, Mo Fire 37
The Eastsiders stormed past Mo fire Saturday night 54-37 to win the bullet game of their best-two-of-three semifinals series in the Roger Bell 13-to-15 age group division.
Mo Fire had knocked off the Eastsiders the previous night to even the series at one game all, mostly on the strong all-around play of team star Devante Xavier. They came into Saturday night's game very confident. That confidence got shattered about three minutes into the game, however, when Xavier got thrown out of the game after receiving two technical fouls while strongly protesting a foul call against him.
The two teams were pretty evenly matched with Xavier in the game. But without him, the scale weighed heavily in favor of the Eastsiders. The other Mo Fire players put up a fairly good fight, but without their star player the question became not if they were going to lose, but how much they would lose by.
The Eastsiders would control all subsequent aspects of the game. Xavier left with his team leading 8-6 in the first quarter. It would be their last lead of the game. When play resumed, the Eastsiders went on a 6-0 run to close out the period with a 12-8 lead.
Things would not get any better for Mo Fire in the second quarter, as the Eastsiders capitalized on several turnovers to outscore them 13-8 in the quarter, going into the locker room leading by nine at 25-16.
Twelve second-half points by Marcus Williams on four consecutive three-pointers, and 10 by Michael Fleming, propelled the Eastsiders to a 29-20 edge in the second half on their way to the blowout win. They will now face Boyz Dem in the Roger Bell 13-15 age group division finals next weekend.
The Eastsiders' Fleming led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcus Williams netted 12 and Shakeel Williams chipped in 10. For Mo Fire, Chris Sealey and Kevin Timothy both finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.

UPCOMING EVENTS