NPA Pythons
Swallow Barrolle Again
- Wins LBF Knockout Champions
March 26, 2003
Siebo D. Williams
Monrovia
It seems the basketball squad of Mighty Barrolle can not easily beat
their NPA Pythons counterparts.
On Sunday at the Sports Commission, Mighty Barrolle fell to the deadly
NPA Pythons in the third game this season. It can be recalled NPA
Pythons beat Barrolle in a pre-season match and subsequently swallowed
the Rollers convincingly in the first round of the LBF National
League.
Sunday's encounter which was the third the NPA Pythons had swallowed
the Rollers, was the grand final of the LBF Knockout Championship.
The deadly NPA Pythons paraded their same squad that comprised LBF's
Most Valuable Player, Suah Williams, arguably Liberia's best point
guard Raphael Quaye, Mark Smith, James Williams, Rudolph Vinton, Armah
Bakana, Amos Barclay, Joseph Lackay, Alphonso K.
Quiah, Varney Tulay, Edmond Cholopray and Mohammed Kanneh.
As for the Rollers, their three foreign players featured prominently
along with the likes of Desmond DJ Johnson, alias "Gabbage Collector",
Reuben Marshall, Otis Nyanneh, Emmanuel Porter, Dasaly Zulu, Jethro
Bing among others.
The Rollers began the match on an aggressive note, with the hope that
would have intimidated the deadly NPA Pythons. But before coach Allen
Jallah could realize his game strategy, most of the big players on the
Rollers squad had gotten in foul trouble.
"Playing a running game against a Team like Pythons is a detriment to
the opposing Team. The only way to beat Pythons is to slow them down
and dictate the pace of the game," one basketball technician commented
during the game yesterday.
Pythons being a very fast playing team responded to the Rollers' game
plan and took control in the first quarter to the end. In the second
quarter the Rollers came back with their full court press, but again
Raphael Quaye, Suah Williams, Mark Smith, Rudolph Vinton and James
Williams were too tough to overcome.
The first half ended with Pythons still in control.
After the break, the two teams returned to action and thrilled their
fans. The Rollers did put up a good show with their Ivorian player
being at his best. But Pythons kept their focus and maintained their
lead to the end of the third quarter.
The last quarter was intriguing as the Rollers cut Pythons' lead to
one and even took a one point lead.
With time ticking, Pythons rediscovered her form with Suah Williams
providing the ingredients that sealed the doom for Barrolle. Suah was
seen all over the court hustling the ball and made good passes to
Joseph Lackay who shot a three-pointer that killed Barrolle's dream.
But when the time it was 10 seconds to go, it was clear that Pythons
was the new LBF National Knockout Champions, they won the match 85-81
points.
It was Pythons first time winning the knockout champions since 1998.
NPA Pythons, the new knockout champions and Uhuru Kings, the 2002
knockout champions have automatically qualify to represent Liberia in
the FIBA Africa Zone 3 ASHRY Cup this year.
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