Anthony Minott, Freelance Writer
Port Royal Bulls' Kede Guyah (left) shoots over Tivoli Wizards' lead man, Anthony Farquharson, as Earl Sinclair looks on during game one of a KFC National Basketball League semi-final best-of-three play-off series at the National Stadium Courts on Saturday night. The Bulls won 78-57 to lead the series 1-0. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer
It will take a huge turn-around in fortunes in game two tomorrow evening at the National Stadium Courts for Tivoli Wizards to stave of elimination from the KFC National Basketball League semi-finals, when they go up against second seed Port Royal Bulls.
In game one on Saturday night, the Bulls registered a blow-out over the Wizards, winning 78-57 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three play-offs. Game two, is set for a 6 p.m. start.
Winning lead
The winners were led on Saturday by Leighton Meeks, who scored a game-high 26 points and shot 3/8 from the three-point arc. Meeks got good support from Damion Young with 20 points, while guard Dovian Wade added 10.
Paul Oliphant, player/assistant coach of the Bulls, said Tivoli blundered by double teaming him, which allowed his teammates to dominate.
What started off as a good sequence of plays for the third seed Wizards during the first few minutes of the first quarter went so horribly wrong in the latter part of that quarter and the rest of the game.
The men from west Kingston led 18-6 with Dwayne Harris and Anthony Farquharson scoring off fast breaks and 'spot up' shots. But, the Bulls responded well and cut the 12-point lead to four (22-18) with a 12-4 run to end the quarter, which was one of many big runs for the Bulls.
The second quarter was all Bulls. They outscored Tivoli 27-12 to take an 11-point advantage at half-time, thanks to a 15- 0 run. The Bulls tied the game at 28-28 and then at 30-30, before going on a big run to open up a 15-point lead at 45-30, before giving up two baskets to lead 45-34 at the half.
The Bulls dictated the pace of the game in the fourth quarter and Tivoli did not change their style of play to stop them having their way.
Only Farquharson with 19 points stepped up to the plate. Dwayne Harris, the second go-to player, only contributed 11 points and there was no one else in double figures.
Tivoli's coach, Dennis Hutchinson, said he has a difficult task of motivating his players for game two.
In the early game, Braves Smilers clobbered JABA Strikers 71-33 in the women's invitational tournament semi-finals. Jessica Myers with 21 points, led the way for the Smilers, while Sasha Dixon (15) and Tamiska Smith also made it into double figures. Shasta-Lee Smith with 12, was the only Strikers player to have a double-digit score.
