TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Discount Distributors Rockets added another chapter to their long-standing rivalry with the Commonwealth Bank Giants in division one play.

The Rockets upset last year’s defending champions 67-61 on Sunday night at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium in the final game of the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) 2023-24 season.

The newly crowned champions dethroned the former title-holders, winning the best-of-five championship series 3-2 and avenging last year’s three-game sweep, courtesy of the Giants, in the 2022-23 NPBA Finals.

Rockets head coach Barrington Carter, who also played with the team last year, was hoping to return the favour and sweep the Giants this time around but prevailing in five games still felt blissful.

“It feels excellent getting them back. It would have felt better to get them back in a sweep like they did but it was still acceptable to win it in five games,” Carter said.

He added that the victory says a lot about the current core of players on the Rockets’ roster because the reigning champions have not practiced this season but were able to go on the big stage and seize the hardware.

“This says a lot about the Rockets brand because the Giants team practices two times a week. My team has not practiced for the season so for us to go out there and win the championship without practice is big. If we could get in at least one practice a week going into the next season that would make us a serious team to be reckoned with,” he said.

The Rockets took charge down the stretch in the “win or go home” game and Roosevelt Whylly, Livingston Munnings and Georgio Walkes made sure of it.

The trio all finished with 15 points apiece with the hardware up for grabs. Munnings stuffed the stat sheet with a monster 15 points and 22-rebound performance.

Additionally, Whylly paired his 15 points alongside 10 boards. Walkes put together 15 points, 6 rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes played.

In the low scoring affair, the contest was too close to call following the opening quarter which saw both powerhouse teams exchange leads.

Michael ‘Furley’ Bain Jr was fouled by Rockets’ Dominique Beadle and stepped to the charity stripe and drained three consecutive free throws to give the CB Giants a slim 15-14 lead going into the second period.

Giants’ veteran Jackson Jacob, who finished with a game-high 16 points, converted on a layup at the 8:55 mark of the second which sparked a 6-0 run by the former champions.They advanced to a 24-16 advantage with less than 8 minutes remaining until the intermission.

The Rockets made up the ground as Abel Joseph made a jumper to put the team within 3 (33-30). The score was 35-30 at halftime, favouring the CB Giants.

The victors remained within striking distance during the third quarter but were unable to take over on the scoreboard.

At one point, Munnings nailed a turnaround jumper to shave the lead down to just 1 (46-45) but Jacob retaliated with a fadeaway shot to derail any chances of a lead change.

Through three quarters of play, the Giants were still in control of the ball game until Whylly made three straight buckets for the Rockets in the final quarter of the 2023-24 NPBA season.

The six points put the Rockets in the driver’s seat 62-59 with 1:06 separating them from hoisting the trophy.

“The key was I told the guys if we stay together and stay poised we would win. On one or two plays if we made a turnover we started to make noise amongst ourselves but I told them to stay poised and stay together.

“We played some good defence down the stretch. Abel Joseph and Kemsey Sylvestre got some key blocks on Jackson so basically our defence won the game,” coach Carter said.

Jacob was then fouled by Joseph on a three-point attempt and connected on his three attempts at the line, closing in 61-62.

After this juncture, the CB Giants were unable to score again while the Rockets made 5-of-7 free throws in the game’s closing moments to secure the title in the clutch.

The Rockets’ championship celebration will be “one to remember”, according to coach Carter.

The Discount Distributors Rockets and Your Essential Store (YES) Giants are the 2023-24 NPBA Division I and II champions respectively.