Basketball: Land Marine Cup Men’s top flight’s semifinal scene set |12 December 2022
Hillary Nourrice’s individual effort helped to steer Anse Etoile Stars past Beguitta Fontaine and HotShots (Photo: Roland Duval)
Anse Etoile Stars struggle past HotShots to reach women’s final
The semifinal scene for this year’s men’s division Land Marine Cup has been set following the last group matches played during the weekend at Victoria Gymnasium, while in the women’s competition, Anse Etoile Stars have booked their tickets to the final after defeating HotShots in their group encounter.
In the men’s semifinals, league champions Beau Vallon Heat will meet Anse Boileau-based Drifters, while runners-up PLS Hawks will face Premium Cobras.
Drawn in group A alongside Hawks, Baya and Mont Fleuri Dawgz, Beau Vallon Heat collected maximum six points from three matches to top the group, while Hawks finished on five points following two wins and a loss.
In their first group match, Heat defeated Dawgz 92-65, while in their second match against PLS Hawks, they won 92-77.
In their last group match on Saturday, Heat defeated Baya 83-68.
As for PLS Hawks, in their first group match they registered an 87-77 win over Baya, before losing to Heat in their second outing.
In their last group match against Dawgz on Saturday, Hawks had to dig deep into their reserves to come out with a 71-62 win.
Baya, on the other hand, registered a single win in the group stage – 64-50 over Mont Fleuri Dawgz – and two defeats to finish with four points and a third-place finish, ahead of Dawgz who finished fourth on three points without a single win.
Group B was made up of Premium Cobras, Drifters and MBU Rockers and with two wins in as many matches, Cobras topped the group with maximum four points to book their semifinal spot against PLS Hawks.
In their first match, Premium Cobras defeated MBU Rockers 88-52, while in their second match on Friday, the players of coach Dominic Pillay beat Drifters 73-62 to finish on top.
Drifters finished as the group’s runners-up with three points from one win and a loss, after defeating MBU Rockers 85-47.
Rockers ended the campaign at the bottom on two points from two defeats in as many matches.
In the women’s competition, the four teams were drawn into two pools, with B Challenge and HotShots in pool A, while Anse Etoile Stars and Mont Fleuri were placed in pool B.
In pool A, B Challenge defeated HotShots 40-37 to finish on top, while in pool B, Mont Fleuri withdrew their participation, leaving Stars as the only contenders.
It was decided that B Challenge would qualify for the final, while Stars and HotShots would battle for the second final spot, and the Stars managed to achieve that objective, booking a rendez-vous with B Challenge in the final.
Beau Vallon Heat v Baya
The intense play-off series did not seem to affect the performance of Beau Vallon Heat who have handled themselves quite well in the ongoing Land Marine Cup competition so far, and against Baya on Saturday it was no exception.
Heat won the first quarter 22-19, before clinching the second period 17-14 to lead 39-33 at half-time.
Ensuring that their lead is maintained, Beau Vallon remained cautious in the third quarter, focusing on their defence, while Baya huffed and puffed to reduce the deficit.
It was Heat who maintained the upper hand at the end of the third quarter which they won 16-13, extending their lead to 55-46 at the end of the period.
More focused, Beau Vallon managed to maintain their dominance in the fourth and final quarter of the match, winning it 28-22 and the match 83-68 to finish top of the group.
Captain Timmy ‘Gazza’ Adam led the scoring for the Heat with 23 points, while Okafor Ebuka was Baya’s top scorer with 19 points.
Experience and maturity steer Hawks to victory
With only two substitutes on the bench as they were missing some of their regulars, PLS Hawks managed to put up a brave display on Saturday, outscoring a younger and agile Mont Fleuri Dawgz to confirm their semifinal spot against Premium Cobras.
Without Ronald Rakotondriambeloma, Ed Talma, Rodney Lozé and others, Hawks managed to control the first quarter of the match, winning 19-11, before, again, outscoring Dawgz 15-12 in the second quarter of the match to lead 34-23 at half-time.
Despite some pressure from the young Mont Fleuri Dawgz squad in the third quarter, the more-experienced Hawks’ players managed to hold on, narrowly losing the third quarter 21-23, thus maintaining a 55-46 lead at the end of the period.
With both teams going all out for a win, the fourth and final quarter was full of entertainment, with both teams scoring 16 points at the end, handing Hawks a 71-62 victory.
Steven Hoareau was Hawks’ top scorer with 17 points while Anil Charlette scored 14 points to finish as Dawgz’ top scorer.
Cobras maintain clean sheet to progress into semi
Premium Cobras registered their second group win in as many matches to progress to the semifinal, beating Drifters 73-62 to finish top of their group.
Cobras won the first quarter 22-17, before being surprised by the Anse Boileau side who took over the match in the second quarter, turning things around after winning 23-10 to take a 40-32 lead at half-time.
Not wanting to finish as the group’s runners-up, captain Amadou Sylla and company stepped up their game in the second quarter, outscoring Drifters 25-13, taking a 57-53 lead at the end of the period.
Still in the strong gear, Cobras came out stronger in the final quarter of the match, wining it 16-9 and the match 73-62.
Alao Soloman was Cobras’ top scorer with 23 points, while with 27 points Arnaud Arissol had the hot hands for Drifters.
Anse Etoile Stars struggle past HotShots to reach final
Only two points separated Anse Etoile Stars and HotShots and a place in the final on Saturday, after the former dug deep into their reserve to overcome the Anse Boileau-based team with a hard-fought 42-40 victory.
After Stars won the first quarter 12-6, HotShots fought back in the second quarter, winning it 14-13, shaking Stars who were still in the lead – 25-20.
HotShots came out stronger in the third quarter but still lost it 6-7, but they outscored their opponents 14-10 in the fourth and final quarter only to lose the match 40-42.
Hillary Nourrice was Anse Etoile’s top scorer with 16 points, while with 20 points, Sherifa Agathine led the scoring for HotShots.
Roland Duval
