Burger King Clapham Bulls complete historic three-peat

Bulls head coach Kelan Phillips (KP) Burger King Clapham Bulls rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat C.A.M Smart Assurance City United Celtics 102-98 in Wednesday’s decisive game five, completing a rare local three-peat of Barbados Amateur Basketball Association Premier League titles. The dramatic victory at the Barbados Community College Gymnasium sealed the highly competitive best-of-five series 3-2. Coach Kelan Phillips credited his team’s discipline and dedication for the comeback victory. Celtics, who are the reigning President’s Cup champions, got off to a rapid start to lead 28-16 after the first quarter, before another solid session saw them holding a 53-40 halftime lead. The Bulls began their rally in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 68-74, before a frenetic final push and a key three-pointer from Rasheed Maynard in the closing stages of the game saw them complete the dramatic turnaround. Kyrone Alexander had a game-high 34 points for the Bulls along with eight rebounds, while Akeem Marsh contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulls also got 15 points each from Rasheed Maynard and Rahiim Gibbons. You Might Be Interested In For the Celtics, Kiserian Adams and Deroni Hurley grabbed 24 points each and Theo Greendidge added 22. An elated coach Philips said the Bulls never panicked after getting off to another slow start, as has been the case on several occasions during the series. “We fell behind early, then in the middle of the second quarter we were down 20 at one point, but then we cut into the lead and our defence got a little better. “During the third quarter we really started to get a little rhythm, with our defence improving even more, and then in the fourth quarter, we took the lead and it was back and forth, before we just executed down the stretch. According to Phillips, some of the team’s areas of focus were not turning over the ball and managing the clock well. He also credited Rasheed Maynard who nailed a vital shot in the closing moments of the game. “Rasheed had a bit of a rough first half and I was just telling him just stay confident and you’re not going to win this game if you don’t stay confident and if you don’t execute in the second half. “Thankfully that’s what he did. He had a big shot coming out late and basically put the game on ice.” The three peat for the Bulls is the first in Premier League basketball for around two decades and Phillips put the extended run of success down to several factors. “Everybody’s willing to buy in and we have a bunch of national players and players who were called to national trials. Despite this, everybody was willing to sacrifice some of their stats, some of their minutes or whatever to get the job done. “Coming towards the end, there were no egos to get hurt, everybody on the team was still rallying. We had a little bit of a changeover from last year to this year. A couple of guys left so we got some new faces in, some old faces from the first championship run, but everyone sacrificed to get the job done,” he explained. Despite his team’s success, Phillips still rated the Celtics as very worthy opponents. “Kudos to them, it did not the end the way that they would have wanted, but it was still a very good season overall for them.This is the third straight year in a row that we faced them in the final, so they are very good rivals and hats off to them for a good season.” (KH)