Captain Tamisha Flatts led from the front by top-scoring and sinking the final three-pointer of the game Saturday to ensure a Pinelands win over Lady Tridents to become Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Women’s League 2019 champions.
The game, the decider in best of three played at the Wildey Gymnasium, ended 57-48 for Pinelands, who led for the first three quarters and had to defend a late charge by the Combined Schools Lady Tridents.
The lead by quarter was 9-8, 25-19 then 42-34, and it was in the fourth session that Flatts sank a three-pointer with 54.5 seconds left in the game that put the result beyond doubt.
In leading the team to win what was essentially a final, Flatts also had six steals.
She was ably assisted by fellow national point guard Maria ‘Flowers’ Cumberbatch on 11 points and five steals. The other double-figure scorer was Shakira Shorey with 12 points.
Captain of the youthful Lady Tridents, Zahra Ashby, was not only in the vanguard of her team but also registered the highest individual score of 17-points in the losing effort.
She was accompanied in the effort by only one other player, Rebecca Simpson, who netted 11 points.
In spite of her joy at the eventual victory Pinelands player-coach, Sade Clarke, believed that it all could have ended earlier if her girls had played better in the second match of the best of three after winning the first.
“We basically gave away the last game, we allowed them to gain too much confidence and momentum in the third quarter, then we had to fight to bring back down the lead and we are not as young as we used to be. We realized that after pressuring in the last quarter we were passing up the ball a lot, so we tried to maintain pressure regardless of if it was half court or full court,” Clarke said.
The is the third time that the Pinelands girls have copped the BABA national championship, having held the title in 2016 and 2017.
Last year’s winners, Lady Cougars, did not defend having withdrawn from this season’s league.
