POST GAME SHOW
with Shakeel Taylor
Sunday April 18, 2021
Cavaliers Tame Lions
2021 Petersburg Cavaliers Schedule
MARCH
Sat 6th @ North Carolina Coyotes LOSS
Sat 13th vs North Carolina Capitals WIN
Sat 20th @ Fayetteville Panthers WIN
APRIL
Sat 3rd @ North Carolina Capitals LOSS
Sat 10th vs Rowan County Bulls WIN
Sun 18th vs North Carolina Coyotes WIN
Sat 24th vs Carolina Chose Lions WIN
MAY
Sat 1st vs Hickory Hoyas 5 pm
Sat 15th @ High Point Lycans
Sun 23rd @ Winston-Salem Wolves
Home games played at
Chosen 1 Generation
C1G Training Facility
6900 Hickory Road
South Chesterfield, VA
STANDINGS
Mid-South Conference
Northeast Division
Hickory Hoyas 6-0
Northwest Division
Southern Conference
Southeast Division
Carolina Thunder 4-2
Southwest Division
Charlotte Tribe 4-4
Mid-Atlantic Conference
Mid-Atlantic
By Craig Richards, LNNUSA.com
PETERSBURG – Welcome to the stampede – a first half of wild animals. Zebras and Lions combined to paralyze the Petersburg Cavaliers early in the Saturday match-up. A very aggressive Carolina Chosen Lions roared in the first half mounting double digit leads. As for the black and white striped opponent some tough calls at key moments stopped momentum opportunities.
When Gage Yesbeck worked the ball down the lane he caught a three second violation – without his shoes scrapping paint in the lane. Later the whistle blew for a Lions time-out while a loose ball was still on the floor. That call changed the possession arrow.
But a few key calls at inopportune moments were not keeping the Cavs down. It was the pace of the game and the hustle on the floor – two areas the Cavs were soundly being beat at. The Chosen had played expecting to win and taking advantage of every misstep the Cavs made.
With under a minute the Cavs had kept it close and snatched a lead. But with less than twenty seconds the Lions took a steal down the court to end the first with a 23-22 lead.
The lead changed hands a couple of times to start the second until Yesbeck drained a three to create a two-point gap two minutes into the second. But that lead evaporated and by the eight-minute mark the Lions had bult a seven-point lead. The first half saw the Lions catching a slower moving Cavaliers defense in transition leading to easy baskets in the paint.
The Cavs stayed committed to the three ball, but the iron stayed cold throughout much of the second. After three consecutive possessions behind the arc coming up empty and a steady diet of effective pick and roll offense by the Lions, the Cavs quickly found themselves down 42-31. The Lions went into the locker room holding an eleven-point lead 57-46.
The Chosen Lions came out the second half pushing their lead with a 6-0 run to 63-46. Elijah Moore sparked a momentum swing early in the third by sinking a jumper then immediately trailing the ball down the court to block the Lion’s following shot. He then stole the rock and pushed the ball out. But the Cavs could not mount a run to offset the double digit lead.
Spotlight: Jamar Cooper
Spotlight: Walter Williams
Spotlight: DeVondre Henry
Spotlight: Will Baggett
Enter DeShaun Morman. With the third ticking away, Morman drove to the iron creating a basket and one. That was the beginning to a 9-0 run with cutting a 15-point lead to six. The Cavs continued their charge as they would cut the lead to just two to close out the third 80-78.
At the 11:42 mark in the fourth Brandon Williams put back a shot to tie the game up at 80-80. The game still appeared in question as the teams continued to trade baskets. That’s when Waymond Wright fired a rocket down the center of the lane to Savage. Hot enough to need a catcher’s mitt, Savage caught the pass in stride to the basket for an easy two. Dwayne Richardson would sink a three signaling the beginning of the end for the Lions with under ten minutes to play.
Field General Wright would take it from there. He orchestrated a 8-0 run including a quick three, followed by a couple a pick pockets taking one coast to coast for the score. By the time the smoke from the battlefield cleared, the Cavs had turned a double digit first half deficit into a late fourth quarter 109-99 lead with under three to go.
The shell-shocked Lions were facing a Cavalier team now clicking on every cylinder. But that Cavs engine was about to misfire. Pushing the ball down the court, a Lions errant pass bounced directly into the hands of Yesbeck. But what looked to be a game ending turnover got blown as a kick ball. That call lead to a quick three-point bucket and the Lions had made the game a four-point content with just under a minute remaining.
Wright was having none of that as he took the next possession to the iron to push back out to a six-point lead, effectively sealing the win. As the final seconds ticked off Brandon Williams crashed the boards for a rebound feeding Morman for a windmill dunk, polishing off the 118 to 108 victory.
The Cavs move to 5-2 and currently set atop the Northwest Division.