JEREMY GILL?
What about him?
Shane Whittaker converted the go-ahead “and-one” play with 28 seconds left as part of a wild finish to Game 1 as Urban Vybz St John’s Sonics held on for Monday’s thrilling 77-74 win in their Premier League basketball series opener against Smalta Pinelands at the Wildey Gym.
It proved the most improbable of finishes, capped by the unlikeliest of players in a matchup centred on the much-talked-about Gill making his long-awaited play-off debut for the Pine.
But the light shone brightest on Whittaker – the oft-ignored reserve who stole the spotlight after scoring the last of his 14 points by sneaking out on a long pitch down the floor for a layup and foul.
This came after Pinelands took an even more unlikely lead (73-72) despite falling behind by as many as 12 points while facing a 61-50 deficit with eight minutes remaining.
It was more than enough time to engineer what seemed certain to be the Pine’s game-winning rally, which featured a ten-point fourth quarter performance from Charles Vanderpool and Anthony Barrow’s go-ahead put-back (71-70).
Sonics recaptured the lead on the very next possession via two Ramon Simmons free throws, only to surrender it again just seconds later when Gill knifed his way to the cup for a nifty layup.
If only that was the game’s final layup.
Quickly taking the ball out of bounds, Rahiim Gibbons found a streaking Whittaker free down the right side with a pinpoint outlet pass for the stunning “hoop and the harm”.
And the drama wasn’t done just yet.
After Vanderpool missed a potential game-tying jumper at the other end, Pinelands were forced to foul and Sonics played right into their hands by missing four straight free throws. But the Pine never got any of the ensuing rebounds, allowing Sonics to kill the final 11 seconds, missing shots at the charity stripe.
It was the rather unexpected sequence of events in a game that St John’s looked certain of winning by double digits after turning a 39-33 half-time lead into a 52-40 cushion midway through the third quarter.
Routinely trapping Gill to take the ball out of the playmaker’s hands, Sonics turned over every other Pine guard before converting each misgiving into points at the other end. Gill briefly threatened thereafter only for Marsh and Whittaker to respond with key baskets to maintain a 61-50 advantage.
Marsh finished with 16 points and ten rebounds and Simmons scored 15 while Gibbons added 11 points.
Vanderpool had 20 points for Pinelands, who will be looking to even the series tonight, while Gill and Barrow scored 18 and 11 points respectively.
Earlier, guards Andre Lockhart and Keefe Birkett both scored 16 points and Lumber Company Lakers went on a 30-11 run between the third and fourth quarters en route to an 86-63 blowout of Cougars in Game 1 of their series.
Ian Alexander added 15 points and 11 rebounds while Mark Bridgeman scored 14 off the bench as Lakers blew open the game early in the third after threatening to do such in the previous period.
With the game tied at 24, Birkett hit successive treys and Bridgeman scored on some telling drives to the hole before centre Andre Boadu had consecutive baskets underneath to give Lakers a 39-30 half-time lead.
Cougars threatened to make a game of the contest, though, with Selwyn Brooks and Ricardo Jemmott combining for five unanswered points to pull them within four just seconds into the quarter.
However, Lockhart put a quick end to the rally with successive pull-up jumpers before Lakers literally ran their rivals off the court by pushing every defensive rebound and turnover into baskets in the open floor.
Alexander and Birkett then produced back-to-back triples to start the ensuing fourth, while Lockhart duly capped the surge with a stunning no-look, left-hand assist to Alexander (73-46) to put the game well out of reach.
Brooks led Cougars with 16 points and Jemmott had 12 points and 15 boards, but the latter shot just five of 19 from the floor.
