Roll-Away St John Sonics may soon be requiring a name change.
Roll-Over St John Sonics seems more befitting.
Mpact Station Hill Cavalier’s reinvigorated play-off push continued, while the Sonics’ post-season’s hopes all but faded when they were thumped 73-54 in Premier League basketball action at the YMCA on Saturday night.
The result gave Cavs their sixth win of their last seven games, while sending Sonics to their fourth straight defeat, as the Cavaliers moved up to fifth position with an 8-6 record, and the reeling Sonics dropped to 5-8, and into seventh.
In a match that was closely contested for much of the first half, where the Cavs led 19-13 at the end of the first period, and held an eight-point lead at the half (34-26), it was not until the third quarter where the men from Station Hill stamped their authority.
An eight-point deficit became 15 midway through that period, as early baskets from Jamai Puckerin and Andrew Alleyne, coupled with some unnecessary turnovers from the Sonics threatened to turn the game into a rout.
Shane Whittaker responded with two quick baskets, which was then followed by a three pointer from Rommel Garnes, as Sonics reduced the deficit to eight points (33-41) with 5:04 on the clock.
But with their star player Akeem Marsh continuing to struggle against a swarming Cavs defence, which resulted in him going a miserable 2 of 9 from the field, and Sonics continuing to turnover the ball, a strong end to the quarter by the Cavs saw them finish on an 11-0 run, including going 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
That, along with the fact that Sonics would fail to score again in the final half of that period, saw the Cavs open up a 19-point lead (33-52) heading into the final quarter.
Sonics would get no closer than 16 points for the remainder of the contest, as the Cavs’ Kevin Sealy and Andre Jean-Pierre combined for 12 points in this period, with Sealy scoring the majority of his points in transition, as Sonics’ lacklustre second half performance continued.
Dwayne Kellman gave spectators something to remember however, bringing the crowd to life with a thunderous two-handed throwdown off a missed Akeem Marsh shot, but that proved to be the highlight of a tame performance from the Sonics.
Puckerin led the way for the Cavs with 19 points, while Junior Moore, Corey Williams and Jean-Pierre finished with ten points each.
Garnes had a team-high 12 points for the Sonics, with Kevin Mason and Whittaker adding 11 and ten points, respectively.
