By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterTIVOLI ALL-Stars basketball club saw their four-year reign over the island's premier basketball league come to a breathtaking end on Sunday.
St. George's Slayers dethroned the former four-time champs in a 74-73 thriller in game two to sweep the best-of-three series.
SYNONYMOUS WITH VICTORY
Tivoli had become synonymous with victory and phrases such as 'Heart of a Champion' and 'Portrait of a Champion' were used to aptly describe them. Over the past four years, they were able to draw from a wealth of talent residing in their community and dominated their opponents with swift execution.
Braves Chiefs (2000), Urban Knights (2001), Pure Nets (2002) and Urban Knights again last year lost to Tivoli in the final.
Things changed, however, this season.
Unlike last year when they had a perfect win record and the previous four years when they topped the preliminary round, Tivoli finished second this season and lost five of their 23 games.
They also lost their dynamic guard duo of Richard Andrews and David Martin to overseas scholarships, leaving Levar Henry and Paul Oliphant to fill demanding roles.
There were times when their vulnerability was displayed, like losing to seventh placed Link Up All-Stars and the lingering troubles they had in closing out games.
Those problems emerged on Sunday when they blew a 15-point lead and were outscored 22-13 in the fourth quarter.
With Tivoli leading 73-71, Slayers' Kalli McKarty was fouled on a slam dunk which he converted into a three-point play with 20 seconds left to give his team the victory.
"At the last part of the game, we always mess up the game; the mental aspect of the game is not there," Tivoli coach Dennis Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson added that each year he lost his best players to overseas scholarships and that their shoes became harder to fill season after season. The aforementioned Andrews and Martin along with Ramon Gayle were some of the key players that left Tivoli last year and Oneil Morgan parted in 2002.
