Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer
MAJESTY GARDENS defeated Liguanea Lions 80-70 in an exciting Game Three of their best-of-three semi-finals of the LPG Insurance Southern Conference Basketball League, on Saturday at the National Stadium Courts. Majesty Gardens won the series 2-1.
Led by a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds from their captain Baldon Todd, Majesty Gardens came out in the first quarter firing on all cylinders and quickly took a nine-point lead to end the first quarter 25-16, with Todd scoring 13 points.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd and a heavy contingent of police personnel due to a brawl that spilled over into the crowd in Game Two, Majesty Gardens continued their dominance in the second quarter as they went on a scoring spree and quickly opened up a 19-point lead to end the period 49-30.
The third quarter was evenly contested and with two of the Majesty Gardens centres getting into foul trouble, Liguanea quickly capitalised by cutting the lead by four points, ending the quarter 67-52.
The fourth stanza was very entertaining as Liguanea fought their way back gallantly through lead scorer Kemo Gordon, who sunk three unanswered three-pointers and Martin Miller (14 points, 5 assists), forcing a number of quick turnovers to narrow the deficit to 10 points.
But Majesty Gardens hung on for victory, and claimed a berth in their second straight Southern Conference finals, where they will face long-time rivals Waterhouse Blazers in Game One on Thursday. The Blazers had earlier swept Braves Chiefs 2-0 in the other semi-final.
Todd was well-supported by teammate Kemar McLeish, 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Chris Berry with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Kemar Dennis also chipped in with 14 points and eight assists.
"It was a fantastic performance by my teammates tonight (Saturday). We know we were the better team, all we had to do is stick to our game plan. It has paid off for us," Majesty Gardens captain Todd said.
Meanwhile, coach of the Liguanea team, Nicholas Locke, was a very dejected man.
"I was very disappointed with how we played in the first half. We didn't look like we came to play basketball because we committed a lot of unforced turnovers, but we did fight our way back in the second half but the game was over by then and congrats to the Majesty Gardens team," he said.
