SOS beat Defence Force 87-81 to win basketball title

AHKEEM Boyd’s offensive display and Moriba De Freitas’s stingy defensive performance sealed an 87-81 Game Three victory for Stories of Success (SOS), against the Defence Force, in the final of the JCW and ¼ Invitational Basketball League, on Sunday, at the Southern Regional Indoor Arena, Pleasantville.

Shooting guard “Fato” Boyd led all scoring on the night with 26 points while his twin brother Ahkeel “Smally” Boyd notched 14 points off the bench and Kemrick Julien added ten points. De Freitas was impressive defensively chipping in with eight points, ten rebounds and seven block shots. Defence Force’s point guard, Kensley Sandy and Kerry McMillan scored 20 points apiece and sharpshooter Jamiel King contributed 18 points.

The game started in blistering pace with Army scoring most of their chances. However, SOS missed several scoring opportunities which led to them trailing 24-17 at the end of the opening quarter. In the second quarter, King had two three pointers to extend his team’s lead but, Julien answered back scoring a stretch of six points to keep SOS within reach at 35-27. In the last minute before half-time, the youngsters from the East took their first lead of the match when De Freitas blocked Wilt Vincent then scored a layup on the other end as they held unto the 43-40 lead heading into half-time.

SOS tightened up on the defensive end by guarding the rim with purpose resulting in Army having to settle for most of their shots outside the perimeter. De Freitas, who played the entire second half, had several rebounds and five blocks in the second period. Nearing the end of the match, SOS showed some experience by slowing the pace of the game while utilising the shot clock. SOS had a healthy 11-point lead 82-71 with two minutes remaining on the clock after “Smally” Boyd scored five straight points for his team. However, Army showed their resilience when Sandy and King scored two clutch three pointers to cut the lead 83-81. After the referee called a travel on Sandy, “Fato” Boyd drove to the rim and picked up the foul then scored the two decisive free throws which assisted in sealing the victory. After the match, coach of SOS, Kern George said, “I want to give God thanks and praise for everything, the boys put in a lot of work and Sunday was a test of character. There was no better way of testing character than a game three final against Army.

They trusted each other, they showed me something that I haven’t seen before by controlling the game and managing the clock. Kudos to Army for coming out, competing and never lying down (and) also to the organisers for putting on a good tournament.”

The 34-year-old coach continued, “This was a year a of growth, a year of reflection, it was an evaluation to see if all the hard-work was going to have good rewards at the end and it surely did.” This is SOS second senior tournament victory in succession after winning the East Zone tournament and they will be shifting their focus to the National Invitational this weekend.

One of the stand out performers on the night, De Freitas said, “The game was played at a high intensity, a true physical encounter with both teams putting their best foot forward seeing that it was a final. The momentum of the game shifted towards us was when ‘Fato’ Boyd dribbled passed his defender and found me for an alley-hoop. The crowd got involved and their energy transferred to the team.” The lanky player was full of praises to those around him. “I must shoutout the coach, the staff, team-mates and the supporters. I started the game slow and sluggish then my mom walked in the stands and immediately my game turned around, I was exceptional from then onwards.