Seven teams remain in the National Community Basketball League after Lodge/Meadowbrook became the first to be booted from the competition last Wednesday when the quarterfinal round tipped off at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
In a heated Linden versus Georgetown match-up, Wismar battled back from a half-time deficit to advance to the semifinal with a 73-70 win over the much fancied and experienced Lodge/Meadowbrook side.
Lodge/Meadowbrook dominated early with their hot shooting along with controlling the glass on both ends of the court, limiting Wismar to one shot per possession during the first half.
However, the Linden side that was down by an eight-point margin at half time came out firing after the intermission.
Lodge/Meadowbrook answered with their physical play along with their unique ability to collect offensive rebounds which kept the game close throughout the third.
In the final quarter, youth really outshone experience as Wismar was able to push their game into another gear as they outran the much older Lodge/Meadowbrook to grasp the win.
Christ Williams top scored for Wismar with 17 points – a game high- as he got his three ball to drop in the crucial game while his teammates Quincy Jones and Harold Adams had 15 and 14 points respectively.
Dayne Kendal top scored for Lodge/Meadowbrook with 16 points while Antwan Austin and Mertimer Williams had 15 and 14 points respectively in the loss.
Meanwhile the national senior female team had a last quarterfinal flurry to blow out the junior national female players in the support game earlier in the night which ended 56-39.
It was downhill for the junior team when their star guard Loquantor Gibson was injured early in the third quarter as the junior team made a late run to level the score on 29 going into the halftime break.
Gibson went down with a knee injury with more than eight minutes to play in the third which put a damper on the offence of the national junior squad and basically handed the win to the seniors without a fight.
Nicola Jacobs had 16 points for the seniors while Gibson contributed 10 points for the juniors as she only played one half of the ball game.
The quarterfinals will continue tomorrow night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall as McDoom/Diamond will battle Nigel Hinds and Associates North Ruimveldt for a spot in the semifinal.
