Western Bureau:

Hoopers have taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five finals of the Western Basketball Association (WBA) Lucozade men's championship, following their 70-68 win against Inner-City Avalanche in Game One at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Courts on Sunday night.

The Hoopers, fresh from Saturday's decisive Game Three semi-final win over Sav Hawks, showed very little signs of fatigue against Avalanche, which had a one-week break after disposing of Granville Jaguars 2-0 in their best-of-three semi-final series.

"We went out there and played as a team, one for all and all for one and it paid off," said Andre Morgan, Hoopers' top player. "Now that we have a lead, we will be seeking to press home our advantage in the next game."

In the first quarter, of what was a ding-dong battle, Hoopers established a 14-10 advantage but, in the second quarter, Avalanche bounced back solidly to take a 29-28 half-time lead. However, in the third quarter, Hoopers reclaimed the lead 50-46 and then moved on to close the show at 70-68.

The Hoopers team, which appeared quite composed throughout the contest, got yeoman service from Marlon Comrie, the team's top player, 15 points and 13 rebounds. Neville Clare and Nicholas Daye also contributed well with, 15 points, 10 rebounds and 15 points, respectively.

The Galton Taylor-coached Avalanche, the competition's mid-season champions, did fairly well through Cleon Morgan and Damian Smith, who both scored 19 points, Dufton Shepherd with 10 points and Chayne Topey, who played well but with limited success.

"We made too many mistakes and, in the end, that was what contributed to our defeat," said Taylor. "We will just have to go back to the drawing board and put things right for game two."

Games two and three will be played this Saturday and Sunday. All games will be played at the Montego Bay Cricket Club Court.