Majesty Gardens' Kemar McLeish (left) and Knights' Javon Bailey (right).
Southern Conference champions Tivoli Gardens Wizards and runners-up Majesty Gardens Legends will be aiming to secure their spot in the final of the National Basketball League (NBL)/Flow All-Island competition, when they oppose Manchester Pythons and defending champions Urban Knights in Game Two of their best-of-three semi-finals today.
The Wizards will play away to the Pythons at Belair High School in Mandeville at 3 p.m., while Majesty will battle the Knights at the National Stadium Courts, starting at 7 p.m.
much stiffer challenge
The Wizards recorded an exciting 80-69 win over the Pythons in their opening game on Thursday. However, they are expected to face a much stiffer challenge from the Pythons, who will be playing on their home court.
Anthony Farquharson led the way for the Wizards with a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds. He received good support from Kirk Ferguson, 17 points.
Chad Walters (20 pts.) and Neviej Walters (16 pts) were the leading scorers for the Pythons, who are appearing in the NBL semi-final for the first time.
Majesty Gardens, who defeated the Knights in the Southern Conference semi-final, had to overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat their opponents 72-69 in Game One.
Former national Under-19 represen-tative, Kemar McLeish, led Majesty Gardens with a game-high 35 points. The winners were trailing the Knights 45-56 at end of the third quarter.
McLeish received solid support from captain Baldon Todd (15 pts) and Havando Dunn (14 pts).
Andy Smith, 23 points, and Javon Bailey, 17 points and 10 assists, were the leading scorers for the Knights.
Marland Nattie, coach of Majesty Gardens, who had beaten the Wizards in the Southern Conference final, said they will have to play better in the opening quarters.
"We need to start playing from the first two quarters because we can't wait until the third and fourth quarters to get going as we might not be as fortunate again," said Nattie.
"We have to make sure that we stick to the basics and keep the focus for the 40 minutes, and once we are able to this then we should be able win," Nattie said.
Meanwhile, Kevin Alexander, assistant coach of the Knights, said his team can rebound from Thursday night's defeat, but they must stick to the game plan.
"We stick to our game plan and do what works for us (then we will win)," he said. "Urban Knights run a system and this is what gave us the lead, and because of indiscipline we threw away the match.
"I think we lacked court leadership from our point guard Javon Bailey because he was ineffective on both ends of the floor in Game One and we need him to step for us tonight," he said.