Boys Dem continued their winning ways Sunday in the Caribbean Education Initiative Hood Hoops League with a 62-55 win over Lil Soldiers at the Safarelli basketball court in a game that was not as close as the final score would indicate.
Boys Dem was running away with the game until Coach Keith Swanston decided to call off the dogs midway through the third period, his team leading by some 28 points.
Boys Dem got off to their usual fast start in the opening period and, led by eight points from their big man in the middle, Javier Martinez, they were able to outscore the Lil Soldiers 17-6 in the quarter.
Things would not get much better from there for the Lil Soldiers, and even though Swanston started substituting freely in the second quarter, his squad was still able to hold their opponents to another six-point quarter to go to intermission comfortably ahead by 14 at 26-12.
Boys Dem put the game out of reach midway through the third period. A balanced attack led by Rasheed Swanston saw the lead balloon to as many as 28 points, which prompted the Boys Dem Coach to empty his bench. Deshaun Garvey’s nine points in the latter stages of the third period helped to cut the lead to 20 points at 46-26 after three quarters.
The Lil Soldiers never quit playing, and they made a valiant effort to close the gap to a more respectable point differential. Led by 10 points from Melvin Adams, they outscored Boys Dem’s second stringers 29-16 in the closing period for a final score of 62-56.
Boys Dem was paced by Martinez with a game-high 18 points. He was ably supported by teammates Swanston and Dequan Bondieumaitre, who finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively. For the Lil Soldiers it was Horace Matthew leading three players in double figures with 14 points, while Garvey and Adams both netted 13 points in a losing cause.
