AFTER coming back from a loss in game one of the championship, the Warriors triumphed over the Suns 12-11 to win the U12 division title of the 2021 NMI Rollers Summer Bash on Sunday at the Koblerville gym.
The Warriors were undefeated in the preliminaries, but in game 1 of the championship round, the Suns proved that they were not to be counted out so easily as they rallied in the second half to take the win 17-13.
In that game, Liam and Percy led the Warriors with back-to-back buckets but the Suns led by Kobe were also relentless, resulting in several lead exchanges.
In the second game, the Suns started to gain control as the rest of the team’s players began to step up.
But it was Kobe who led the offense and put in as much work on the defensive end, racking up 16 rebounds and nine steals while team-mates Payton and Lance delivered buckets to give the Suns the lead.
The Warriors fought back and cut the lead down to six points, but then the Suns’ Venice reignited his team’s momentum to finish strong, 17-13.
Although the Suns handed the Warriors their very first loss, another game was needed to decide the tournament victor.
Despite the Suns’ impressive game one performance, the Warriors in game two made sure that they would not be outplayed again.
The Warriors tightened their defense this time around. Even with Kobe still dominating the boards, the Warriors did a great job in preventing the Suns’ scorer from finding his rhythm. This forced the rest of the Suns to step up in order to stay alive.
Venice and Collen tried to take over the offensive output and kept the deficit within a one-possession distance, but the Warriors’ Liam and Percy unleashed an offensive barrage, contributing six points each, to edge the Suns, 12-11, and clinch the championship.
The Warriors’ Liam gathers for the layup during the U12 division championship game of the 2021 NMI Rollers Summer Bash tournament on Sunday at the Koblerville gym.
The Suns’ Kobe takes the shot during the U12 division championship game of the 2021 NMI Rollers Summer Bash tournament on Sunday at the Koblerville gym.
