By Neto Baptiste
Defending champions, Flyers Basketball, completed a two-game sweep of Spanish Heat while Northside Stingerz forced their best of three series against rivals Potters Steelers to a decisive game-three when action continued in the semifinal round of the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association (ABBA) Division 1 Playoffs on Sunday.
Contesting the opening game at the JSC basketball complex, Flyers warded-off a desperate Spanish Heat to win by just three points, claiming game two of the three-game series 68-65. Flyerz had previously won game-one by an 88-59 margin.
Flyers led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter before going on to outscore Spanish Heat 19-18 and 16-15 in the second and third quarters respectively. Spanish Heart rebounded to take the final quarter 24-17 but it was not enough to keep their series alive.
Selassie Brathwaite led the scoring for Flyers with 19 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. He had help from Xavier Meade with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Steven Matthew sank a game high of 28 points and had seven rebounds in a losing effort for Spanish Heat.
Meanwhile, Stingerz enjoyed a comfortable 86-58 triumph over Potters Steelers to level their series at 1-1 after Potters had claimed game 1 by an 81-70 margin.
Stingerz dominated three of four quarters, outscoring Steelers 32-18 in the first, 22-18 in the third and 21-8 in the four for the huge win. Steelers won the second quarter 19-11.
Joshua Minner led the scoring for Stingerz with 24 points while picking up 12 rebounds. Keroi Lee chipped in with 20 points and 16 rebounds while Jayzee Saltibus had 14 points and five rebounds.
In a losing effort, Cohen DeSouza had 16 points and nine rebounds for Steelers. The teams will clash in the decisive game three on Tuesday starting at 7:30 pm.