Dave Ryan reports…
Levett Essex Leopards will host Westminster Warriors in the play-offs after a dominant performance saw them hammer Derbyshire Arrows 114-72 at Oaklands Academy on Saturday afternoon.
The play-off quarter-final will take place at the Brentwood Centre on Saturday April 7, tip-off 6.30pm as the Big Cats look to finish the season by lifting a piece of silverware.
Leopards won both regular season match-ups with the West London side, edging the opening league game of the season 83-77 at Capital City Academy before winning a thriller 75-73 at the Brentwood Centre in January.
Both sides finished with 14-8 league records, Leopards edged fourth place – and home court advantage – thanks to those pair of wins against the Warriors.
Jon Johnson’s side have already won piece of silverware this season, beating big-spending Thames Valley Cavaliers in the Patrons Cup final.
With former Leopards Tosin Oyelese, Justin Hitchman and Lawrence Brown in the Warriors squad, it’s likely to be another thriller at Brentwood, and Big Cats’ coach Thomas Baker is looking forward to the game:
“It’s symbolic in a way. We started the season against Westminster. We started the New Year against them and now we will start our playoff push against them too” he said.
“It’s going to be a tough game – they have shown they can be the best this league has to offer having beaten Cavaliers twice and beating Hoods on the weekend. It’s a great game for us, we will need to be ready for a competitive game right from the start.
“The guys look focused and I am excited for us to keep this season going and aim for the playoff final at the end of the month, but we must take it one game at time.”
The Big Cats only trailed during the opening two minutes on Saturday as the visitors’ attempts to speed the game up failed miserably, and their 114 points was a record haul for the Leopards in a league game, beating last season’s double overtime win at Worthing by a single point.
Seven players finished in double figures for the home side – another club record – with Shaq Lewis leading the way with 18 points and seven boards.
Will Ashby and Jordon George finished with double-doubles, finishing with 13 points apiece and adding ten assists and ten rebounds respectively.
Jose Morais also finished with 13 points, while Antonio Deogratias added 12 points and eight boards. Kevin Moyo scored 11 points off the bench, with Jamie Hayes pulling down eight boards to go with his ten points.
Leopards shaded the first period 25-21 but a dominant second quarter saw the visitors outscored 28-16 and the second half proved to be one-way traffic for long spells.
Baker was delighted with the win: “The regular season is over and it was a great game from us to finish” he said.
“This season has had some highs and some lows but I am proud in the way the guys have consistently shown the resilience needed to bounce back and push forward.
“Offensively we were extremely successful, moving the ball very well. Defensively we proved we can string together multiple stops.
“The energy was high and the togetherness was great. We are ready for the playoff push.”
