MAKE THAT BACK-TO-BACK for the champs.
Preferred Insurance Brokers Pinelands are still very much the queens of local basketball, having capped their memorable series comeback via Wednesday’s 80-58 title-clinching victory over Lady Cougars in the No.1 Beauty Supplies and Beauty Exchange finals.
The Pine actually never trailed in the decisive Game 3, literally running out to a 14-2 lead at the Barbados Community College before closing out the contest by scoring 24 of the game’s last 34 points.
It marked a huge turnaround from last week’s tragic finals opener, where the defending champs were surprisingly kept out of transition en route to a shocking 14-point Game 1 upset.
Reigning MVP Maria Cumberbatch also bounced back, rebounding from a previously miserable series average of 10.5 points to erupt for a game-high 33.
And she got going early and often too, scoring on a jumper and fast-break layup to go along with two free throws that sandwiched triples from Sade Clarke and Toni-Ann Johnson in that 14-2 opening surge.
“We came into the series a bit too overconfident and we just put ourselves in a hole but I don’t think they stopped us,” said Clarke.
“So we stuck to the game plan after coming back from the loss in Game 1. We’re a running team and we just need to run the floor because they can’t stay with us in the open court.” (JM)
Please read the full story in today’s Weekend Nation, or in the eNATION edition.
