Sanken Basketball Cup-Hawks and Stars sweep finals |10 November 2008
Anse Etoile Stars and PLS Hawks had promised to sweep the series after winning the first
Achieving a league and cup double was always going to be a tall order for HotShots and Baya, but the onus was on them to turn their respective series around and extend the suspense until yesterday. If HotShots looked capable of doing it despite losing 50-56, Baya just could not and suffered a bruising 49-96 defeat.
It was not surprising for Stars and Hawks to produce the finals’ Most Valuable Players (MV) in Simone Malbrook and Neddy ‘Oye’ Fanchette.
Stars outshine HotShots
Losers to HotShots in the two regular season matches, the Stars looked destined to take the series after winning game one 61-43.
After leading all scores with 25 points in the first win, forward/centre Simone Malbrook said “my teammates are looking forward to ending the series on Saturday”.
Like in game one, she gave her team the lead with just 20 seconds played and they led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.
HotShots used a 14-2 run in seven minutes and 55 seconds (7:55) to open a 10-point gap at 25-15, but with plenty of veteran talent, the Stars came back to cut the deficit to five points – 27-22 – at half-time.
When Malbrook got the better of HotShots’ Tina Agathine to score with 7:49 left in the third quarter, the score was level at 27-27 and the Stars used a 17-11 spurt to go into the fourth quarter with a two-point lead – 40-38.
“We’ve done it. We anticipated a tough match today (Saturday) and it was indeed a tough one. But we had done our homework. We’ve swept the series which is good, giving us something to cheer about at the end of the season,” said MVP Malbrook, who got 15 points – the same total as teammate Beaudoin and HotShots’ forward Solin.
Disappointed HotShots’ centre Tina Agathine, who got 14 points, said: “We came close, but in the end the starters got tired and needed some rest. It was at this point in the game that the Stars took control.”
Hawks cruise to victory
PLS Hawks had been there before and wanted to repeat as Cup champs to make up for relinquishing the league title to Baya.
If they struggled against a short-handed Baya in the 83-81 overtime game one win, the Hawks put on a commanding display to steamroller to a 96-49 game-two victory.
Having promised to “finish the job on Saturday” after arguing his players went into game one thinking they had already won because Baya were missing some key players, PLS Hawks’ coach Tony Juliette had no worries on Saturday, but he just made sure his players keep cruising in every rotation.
They were in devastating form and went on the rampage early in the match following a Stephen Omony 3-pointer which broke the 8-8 deadlock to bring the score to 11-8 with 6:01 gone in the first quarter.
With centre Robert Léon healthy after missing game one, Baya still could not respond and were unable to follow the fast-flowing traffic coming from Plaisance.
It was one of the highest lop-sided wins in a cup final here and with very little resistance,
Léon scored 25 points – more than half of his team’s total – while Jean-Paul ‘JP’ Camille, who usually scores treys in bunches and can be virtually unstoppable when on fire, never got in the groove. He got just nine points and connected on just one trey for Baya, who were still without captain Dave Roseline.
“I expected a win, but not by such a big margin. We were disciplined in our play today (Saturday) and we won,” said coach Juliette.
As he tried to hide his anger, Juliette’s opposite number Michel Malbrook said: “PLS Hawks played with more determination and nothing worked for us. It’s just not the players who are to be blamed.”
Other than cups, the winners got R1,500, losing finalists R1,000 and the MVPs R500.
G. G.
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Women’s MVP Simone Malbrook
“Winning an MVP title at 37 years old is something special. I was not expecting to win the title. It has come as a surprise. I have to thank my teammates, coach and the team’s management for without whom I would not have been the player I am today.”
A good shooter from the floor and can dominate the boards, Malbrook, formerly Bamboche, has been playing for Anse Etoile Stars and the country’s national team since 1987.
Men’s MVP Neddy ‘Oye’ Fanchette
“It’s something new and big. I was not expecting it. It gives me the courage to continue to train and play the game. I thank God for shining His lights on me.”
One of PLS Hawks’ good inside shooters and ardent rebounders, centre ‘Oye’ joined the team in 2005.