By Neto Baptiste
Spanish Heat and Wadadli Elite were winners in game one of their three-game series of the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association (ABBA) playoffs which commenced at the Ovals Basketball Court on Wednesday.
Playing in the opening game of the double-header, Spanish Heat enjoyed a 10-point triumph over Old Road Daggers, winning 84-74 to take a one-nil series lead.
Spanish Heat ended the first quarter with a slim 19-18 lead but the teams picked up the same amount of points in the second quarter with each netting 20. Spanish Heat then outscored Daggers 19-16 in the third quarter before claiming the fourth and final quarter 26-20.
Steven Matthew led the scoring for Spanish Heat with 26 points, four rebounds and 10 assists. Kelvin Pimental chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Rohland Hamilton contributed with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Jesus Emmanuel picked up 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
In a losing effort, Ariel Quallis had a game-high 30 points and seven rebounds, while Ezekiel Francois added 11 points and 11 rebounds to the effort.
Meanwhile, Wadadli Elite were narrow six-point winners over Flyers 2, winning by a 56-50 margin in Wednesday’s second clash.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the contest with Elite taking the first quarter by a slim 10-9 margin while the second quarter was equally contested with both teams hitting 15 points each. Elite then outscored Flyers by a 17-10 margin in the third quarter before Flyers claimed the fourth and final quarter by a 16-14 margin.
Tequan Brodie led the scoring for Elite with 18 points and five rebounds, Najae George contributed with 11 points, and Lopez Adams chipped in with eight points and 18 rebounds.
T-Shawn Lewis led the effort for Flyers with 19 points and nine rebounds. There were massive contributions on the defensive end from Andre Edwards and Sadiq Phillip who snatched 26 and 19 rebounds respectively. Edwards also had six points while Phillip picked up four points.