Basketball: Premium Cobras Warm-up tournament   |07 February 2024

Captain Amadou Sylla and Premium Cobras will now face Beau Vallon Heat in the semifinal (Photo: Roland Duval)

Hosts Premium Cobras sting Cascade Bullets to book seminal spot

After losing their first group match 49-67 at the hands of Anse Boileau-based Drifters on Saturday, hosts of the Warm-up Tournament Premium Cobras made amends yesterday, collecting a much-needed victory over Cascade Bullets in their second group A game at Victoria Gymnasium.

A win and a defeat out their two matches played were enough to guarantee the players of coach Guy Hall a spot in the semifinal on Friday where they will face Beau Vallon Heat who topped the opposing group following their two wins out of their two matches played.

As for Cascade Bullets, they have exited the tournament after two defeats, having previously lost to Drifters 42-92 in their first match.

In the other group, the second semifinalists will be decided today when Mont Fleuri Dawgz who lost 76-97 to Beau Vallon Heat in their first group match, clash against AB Boys who also lost to the Heat – 51-102 – in their first match.

In yesterday’s match, it was Cobras who came out stronger as they went on to win the first quarter 15-4, before piling more pressure on Cascade Bullets in the second quarter, winning it 26-15 to lead 41-19 at halftime.

Despite trailing, the Bullets put a decent show in the third quarter; outscoring Premium Cobras 15-5, cutting the latter’s lead to 12 points – 46-34 – at the end of the period.

Several unnecessary mistakes, however, marred the Bullets’ performance in the fourth and final quarter, allowing the Cobras to score some important points to increase their lead.

With four minutes left to play, the Bullets lost Christopher ‘Toto’ Camille who was ejected from the match following two technical fouls called by referee Jana Malbrook for protesting.

The Cobras marched on to win the quarter 20-9 and the match 66-43 for a place in the semifinal.

Captain Amadou Sylla led the scoring for Premium Cobras with 17 points, while Wayne Dogley had the hot hands for Cascade Bullets, chipping in 25 points.