MAYBE IT’S STATION HILL that wanted Warrens all along.
For sure Junior Moore did.
So much for Warrens’ favourable matchup as Moore had ten of his 18 points in extra time, including four straight jumpers to spur Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers to Thursday’s gripping 91-85 overtime win in Game 1 of their Premier League basketball first-round series at the Wildey Gym.
Moore’s heroics became the big storyline surrounding a much awaited play-off series that was shrouded in a bit of controversy over the basis of the matchup.
Speculation was rife that Warrens intentionally set up the pairing after they defaulted their final regular season contest against Clapham – a result that locked them into the series with a top-ranked Cavs side that they beat in both meetings this year.
Look who’s in danger of being swept now.
Moore proved the difference between the two sides, going a perfect five of five from the floor in the crucial extra period on mainly jumpers as the Cavs scored 12 of the game’s final 19 points to take a decisive 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Warrens actually struck first in overtime, going ahead on Peter Alleyne’s opening jumper (75-73), but the Cavs never trailed again after Moore hit the third of three straight jumpers over an unmoved Pearson Griffith.
Basically daring Moore to shoot, Griffith never once stepped out to the free-throw line while the hot-handed Cavs’ forward hit mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper to put Station Hill ahead 83-79.
Kevin Sealy only briefly interrupted Moore’s string of buckets with a pair of free throws before he hit the Cavs’ big man in the open floor for the decisive “and-one” bucket (85-79) that basically sealed the deal.
Warrens threatened thereafter, but just briefly, with Alleyne and Austin hitting successive treys inside the dying moments to make the contest a one-possession game (85-82) with 12.1 seconds remaining.
However, Sealy and Steve Grenville split free throws at the other end before Warrens failed to box out Seon Hilliman on one of those trips, resulting in a back-breaking tip-in (89-82).
It was the second of two menacing rallies Cavs were forced to survive after Warrens whittled away all of a 14-point third-quarter hole (45-31) via a surreal 32-13 run spanning the third and fourth quarters.
Griffith started the surge with seven quick points down low, before Austin and Zahir Motara provided a much needed offensive lift off the bench with a series of jumpers and transition baskets that actually gave Warrens a 69-63 lead with just over three minutes to play.
But Alleyne choked down the stretch, committing two untimely turnovers as Warrens added just four further points while Jason Smith eventually locked the scores on a trey some five feet behind the arc.
Smith finished with 16 points, Hilliman had 15, while Moore added 15 rebounds and five assists.
For Warrens, who will look to extend the series tonight at the same venue, Griffith had a game-high 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks, Austin scored 15 while Alleyne and Motara both netted 13 points.