ST LEONARD’S are getting another shot at St Lucy.
Hopefully the third time proves a charm.
Nicholas Rouse and Pablo Kinch combined for 16 points in a decisive 22-7 fourth-quarter run to put St Leonard’s in another title clash against St Lucy following a 68-45 victory over Ellerslie in Monday’s United Insurance Division 2 Basketball’s Final Four.
Playing at the Wildey Gym, Rouse and Kinch had eight points apiece in the game’s last period, transforming a 44-38 advantage into the comfortable 23-point margin.
This after Ellerslie stayed on their opponents’ heels for the better part of the first three quarters, having never trailed by more than eight points.
But the Black Rock boys went scoreless for a vital six-minute stretch in the fourth, continuously turning over the ball while failing to keep Rouse off the offensive glass.
Rouse led all scorers with 20 points and Kinch finished with 18, while Jare Alleyne added ten. Lamar Grazette was the lone Ellerslie player in double digits with 17 points.
The Richmond Gap side advanced to their second successive title game against St Lucy this season, having already lost the regular season finale in Trents last week after also dropping the teams’ first-round encounter.
In the day’s other game, forward/centre Jamario Clarke had 15 of his game-high 31 points in the first quarter, as St Lucy routed Alexandra 77-42 and remained on course to capture their first ever double.
About the only time the reigning two-time regular season champs trailed was right after the opening tip when Alexandra scored the contest’s first basket.
It was strictly one-way traffic after that, though, as Rouse accounted for all but six points in a 21-7 first-quarter run before St Lucy opened up a 44-20 half-time cushion.
Rommel Bynoe added 16 points and Jerome Small 15 for St Lucy, while Jabarry Knight topscored for Alexandra with 17.
The championship match is slated for early next term. (JM)
