Hamilton Parish 70

St. George's 57

Sixth seeds Hamilton Parish Chargers overcame the odds as they dispatched two-time defending champions St. George's International with relative ease, 70-57, in Saturday night's play-off final of the Cellular One Basketball League at Bermuda College.

At the beginning of the campaign St. George's were fan favourites to repeat as champions and they dominated during the regular season with a 9-3 record.

Asked before the final what it would take to stop the champs, Chargers guard Mike Smith stated: "We will stick to our game plan and attack St. George's from start to finish" – and that's exactly what they did.

From the whistle, Smith took control of game and with a pair of steals he quickly set the tone with a couple of easy buckets. Led by 20 points from Che' Powell and another 18 from Calvert Lee, Chargers dominated for much of the game.

Despite St. George's' tough interior defence, Chargers were able to find their jump shot in the initial minutes to take a 15-5 lead.

St. George's would struggle to find their target in the first half as they shot a dismal 2-13 from the field in 10 minutes of play. Their dynamic duo of Damon Saunders (21 points) and Dean Jones (17 points) were kept quiet for most of the half, scoring just five points between them.

But as International continued to struggle, Jonathan Minors found the basket to be his oasis, scoring six straight points to push his team's lead to 25-11 with six minutes remaining in the half.

Chargers were determined not to make it easy for St. George's' big man Jones as they contested every shot and regularly committed fouls, forcing him to earn his points from the free-throw line.

Jones shot a season low 3-9 from the stripe and the defending champions were held to a season low 15 points in the opening half.

In the second half, Saunders would finally find his form, sparking a 7-0 run to pull with three as a turnover by Chargers led to a monster dunk by Jones that had fans jumping out their seats.

However, Jonathan Minors would slow St. George's' momentum with a pair of high arching jump shots to push the Chargers' lead to 37-28 by the 12-minute mark.

Saunders retaliated, scoring 11 of St. George's' 15 points to bring his team within five with five minutes remaining.

But Chargers would remain calm and answer with a run of their own, quickly scoring 15 unanswered points, led by Calvert Lee, pushing their lead into double digits.

They continued that run as Powell scored back to back shots to give Chargers the biggest lead of the game, 61-43 with three minutes left.

A three-pointer by Jones would end St. George's shooting slump in the final minutes but it proved too little too late as Chargers did what nobody thought they could do – dethrone the three-time champions in dominating fashion.

Hamilton Parish Chargers leading scorers: Che' Powell (20 points) and Calvert Lee (18 points)

St. George's International leading scorers: Damon Saunders (21 points) and Dean Jones (17 points)