Garrison Chargers are heading to basketball’s Premier League, having scored 13 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters to cap a two-game finals sweep of Intermediate rivals Patriots in Thursday’s 74-62 Game 2 victory at the Wildey Gym.
It was the second time that proved the charm for Chargers, who lost their initial bid to join neighbours Warriors in the top flight after succumbing to a heartbreaking three-game finals defeat last season.
There would be no epic Game 3 collapse this time, though, as the veteran Garrison squad put the series to bed by scoring nine straight points to end the third quarter before capping a decisive 57-46 lead with two straight buckets to start the fourth.
Patriots did threaten thereafter, even if briefly, with reserves Andre Stoute and Jehnard Brewster scoring six quick points between them to make the contest a two-possession game (62-57) with five minutes left.
However, the Husbands men managed just two field goals the rest of the way after Junior Clarke responded with a huge three-pointer prior to a pair of David Smith buckets that restored Chargers’ double digit lead (73-60).
It was the fitting finish to another Garrison series win over Patriots, who similarly dropped both games of last year’s first-round encounter.
But Patriots had the look of a side determined to force a decisive third game after storming out to an initial 22-14 cushion for their second straight early lead for the series.
However, Nicholas King made them pay for their guards’ poor rotation at the top, hitting three of Chargers’ five triples in the second quarter as part of a 17-7 rally that put Garrison up 31-29.
Smith then hit another triple on the other side of the break, forcing Patriots into playing a man defence for the early part of the third period in which the teams traded leads.
Chargers eventually countered with the decisive blow, though, extending the top of their zone to force turnovers which keyed the game-changing 13-0 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth.
Patriots weren’t quite done as Stoute responded with successive baskets before Brewster scored a layup and assisted on an “and-one” play for Walcott to reduce the margin to a manageable 62-57 deficit.
But they never got any closer after surrendering yet another long range bomb and back-to-back fast break layups down the stretch.
King and Ryan Lucas led all scorers with 15 points each, Shawn Grosvenor added 14, while Smith and Clarke finished with 11 and ten points, respectively.
Walcott top scored for Patriots with 12 points and Stoute had ten.
Chargers will join fellow Dayrells Road side Warriors as well as Lakers, Pinelands, St John Sonics, Warrens, Cougars, Combined Schools, Station Hill Cavaliers and Challengers in the Premier League.
Clapham Bulls, who enjoyed a record 28-year streak as one of the original clubs in top flight basketball, have been demoted.
