WITH THE WAY Sade Clarke was throwing away the ball, Clapham should count themselves lucky she didn’t do the same with Game 1.
Women’s basketball’s classic finals just got its epic opening, as Toni Atherley had 31 points before Antonia Baptiste scored the go-ahead basket with 2:03 remaining to help defending champs Clapham Bulls hold on for Tuesday’s 68-66 last-second thriller against Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers at the Wildey Gym.
This series opener proveda most fitting start to a fifth successive Bulls-Cavs championship series.
But for all this matchup’s historic finishes, the most recent – and memorable – might not be remembered for Atherley’s lay-ups, but for Clarke’s foul-ups.
In her worst ever finals performance, the Bulls floor general nearly cost the queens Game 1, with at least ten turnovers in a sloppy display of ball-handling and passing.
Not that Station Hill weren’t grateful either, with the Cavs showing their appreciation via two menacing second-half runs – the last proving a decisive 18-7 lead-changing rally in the fourth quarter.
And the cap of the run seemed more stunning than the surge itself, as Danesha Elcock hit an unlikely trey before fellow unheralded guard Cherise Shepherd made good on a running floater for the go-ahead score (64-62) as the punctuation of a series of Astrid Alleyne buckets.
Atherley quickly responded with another of her trademark pull-up jumpers though, and Clapham regained the lead just moments later when Baptiste got free for a lay-up and split two free throws on another possession (67-64).
Yet the Station Hill threat was far from over.
Trisha Payne sank a long-range jumper to reduce the deficit to a mere point inside the final minute before Clarke turned over the ball on successive possessions – the last of which came on a clear three-on-one fast-break against the back-pedalling Wanda Agard-Belgrave.
Cavs then got two bites at the cherry with 16 seconds on the clock, only to see Alleyne bounce the ball out of bounds after gathering the rebound from an errant midrange jumper from Payne.
As was the case all game though, Clarke threatened to give it right back.
Barely avoiding a five-second violation, the Bulls guard just tossed the ball to midcourt with no one in mind, leaving Baptiste to scramble for a loose ball that she barely retrieved just ahead of Agard-Belgrave seconds before the clock ran out.
It was a surprising turn of events, considering Chapman’s early 26-14 advantage.
Agard-Belgrave and Alleyne had 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead the former ten-time league champs, who look to stay alive with a must-win victory in tonight’s Game 2 at the same venue.
