By Craig Richards, LNNUSA.com

​

Petersburg – Flashes of NBA caliber shooting was on display for the first quarter of the Petersburg Cavaliers opening home game Saturday March 13th. An impressive 60.9% from the floor and a more devastating 62.5% beyond the arc put the Cavaliers on track to a blowout victory. But a 42 to 19 lead at the end of the first quarter over the visiting North Carolina Capitols would be short lived. The contest was about to turn into a scrappy back-yard brawl.

A wholesale substitution at the beginning of the second quarter saw a Cavs 23-point lead dwindle to just seven points. The scoring drought was not broken until the 6:30 mark when the Cavs saw their first basket of the second period; shifting the scoreboard 44 to 35. A run of turnovers matched with just seven buckets from the floor had eradicated the earlier lead.
 

Struggling ball control and deep into a scoring desert the Cavs would watch the Capitols pull within five with 3:06 left in the first half, 52-47. A much-needed shift in momentum came when Deshaun Mormon took a breakaway to the iron with a thunderous dunk, echoing off the concrete block walls of a COVID 19 crowd less gymnasium. The next possession found Mormon at the line knocking down two free throws to extend the Cavaliers lead back to 59-51 headed into the half. 

The Capitols, embarking on their inaugural season in the East Coast Basketball League, did not play the role of inexperienced prey for the veteran home team. Their dogged play had continued into the third period as they cut the Cavs’ lead to just four points, 59-55, early in the period.  
But for the second time in the contest, a Cavs’ dunk electrified the offense, changing momentum. Walter Williams was feed a perfect bounce pass through more traffic than I-95 during Richmond rush hour, from Dwayne Richardson. Williams drove to the iron, took the pass in stride then visited the north side of the rim. 

Scoring overall slowed on the third period but so did the game. The Cavs settled into more half-court offense closing out the period with an 81-70 lead.

That modest lead would turn into a one possession game by 7:46 in the fourth. Three back-to-back to back turnovers let the Capitols back in the contest as they cut a 9-point lead to just 3. A minute later and the Capitols had pulled within two. 

With the game winding down, play got messy. At the four-minute mark the teams traded four straight turnovers before the Capitols drained a short jumper to tie the game 91-91. At the 3:02 mark Capitols’ TyQuon Reid toed the line and sunk the front end of two to take their first lead 91-92. The opportunistic visitors weren’t finished as Tyler Shelton, who spent most of the evening capitalizing on fast break opportunities, extended their lead with another fast break 93-96. The lead grew to 93-97 with just 1:22 left in the contest.

Under a minute in regulation the resilient Cavaliers had pulled it to within two, 95-97. On the next and final possession Elijah Moore launched a three to end the game. The shot rolled off the right of the rim.  Two defenders looked to have position, but it was Robert Pinkston that gabbed the rock and put in back against the glass and in to tie the game forcing overtime, 97-97.

The Cavs took the lead when Tavon Mealy dropped one of two from the line a minute into OT. #13 drained a three to push the lead out to 103-99 with just over three minutes left. That lead stretched again as Mealy scored two more at the two-minute mark, 105-99.

​

The game seemed secure but a late run by the Capitols and what appeared to be a game changing clash in the backcourt looked to put an opening day victory in jeopardy. Richardson had been serving as an effective Cavaliers’ field general in the closing minutes until a collision with a Capitols player took him out of the game.

​

And while the Capitols may have seen the loss of Richardson advantageous, the insertion of Waymond Wright proved to be deadly to the visitors. Wright was on point dishing two pinpoint back-to-back passes to Moore who delivered in kind. The late baskets pushed the Cavs’ lead out to four with under thirty-seconds to go, 109-104.     

The Capitols had matched the Cavaliers step-for-step through the last three quarters but found themselves on the short end of a 109-107 final. This contest sets up for quite a rematch as the Cavaliers will face off again against the Capitols on April 3rd in North Carolina.

​

The Cavaliers 2021 home court is at the Chosen 1 Generation Training Facility at 6900 Hickory Road, South Chesterfield.