A highly entertaining and mouth-watering double-header Major Semi Final blockbuster of the Port Moresby Elite Basketball (PEB) competition saw the CivPac Amesii men’s and women’s teams secure their respective spots in the Grand Final after defeating the Tribes Coffee teams on Wednesday night, November 6th, 2024, at Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex.
Amesii and Tribes have become arch-rivals lately because of their competitive spirit to be the best in the business. The top-of-the-table clash in both divisions saw the four teams rise to the occasion and delivered enthralling basketball performances, hyping the raucous crowd and living up to the fans’ expectations.
Opening the double-header fixture, the CivPac Amesii women made their presence felt and led in all four quarters, edging the Tribes Coffee in a gritty 2-point deficit basketball game (60-58). This match had everything, with both teams emptying their tanks and throwing themselves on the court, wrapping up the evenly-fought contest in a nail-biting finish.
Amesii were led by experienced PNG representative point-guard and eventual player of the match Betty Angula, who scored 13 points, collected 17 rebounds and made 7 assists. Angula’s double-double statistics was supported by PNG representatives Betty Wong, Marca Muri and Lydia Gotuno’s strong performances.
For the Tribes women’s team, PNG representative and captain Jonitha Warabe was efficient on the court, bagging 18 points, collecting 10 rebounds and making 3 assists, backed by the decent performances of young Margret Kevin and Cynthia Baia.
In the men’s division, the first quarter went to a fiery start as anticipated, equalising the points at 17-points apiece. However, from the second quarter to the final quarter, the Amesii side took things under control and defeated the Tribes Coffee with a 71-62 victory.
Amesii’s young PNG representative centre, Harold Elavo was busy in the paint area, scoring 17 points, collecting 14 rebounds and making 5 steals, who walked away with the player of the match. The towering centre’s impressive game was backed by PNG’s stalwarts Moses Lune, Anderson Hewe and Augustine Kaupa.
On the flip side, promising PNG basketball prospect and Tribes’ centre, Allan Millard had a blinder with his rim attacking prowess, registering 27 points and collecting 8 rebounds. Skipper Collin Pine and PNG representatives, Cornelius Muri and Eddie Moses also had good performances.
Both CivPac Amesii teams have advanced to the big dance, while the Tribes Coffee teams have one more chance to redeem themselves against the Saints (women’s) and the Togoba Coffee (men’s) respectively in the Preliminary Final next Tuesday, November 12th. The winners of these upcoming do-or-die games on Tuesday will meet the two Amesii teams in the Grand Final on Thursday, November 14th.
Good Stuff💚