Suns claim DPL three-peat

In a re-match of last season’s finale, the (2) Suns have earnt their third successive DUNK Basketball Uniforms Premier League title following a decisive 85-63 victory over (1) Raptors.
With both teams missing key players in Dennis Thornton (Suns) and Wes Rand (Regulators), it was the Suns’ guard duo of Luke Stewart and Ethan Fleming who put their stamp on the game early.
Following a deep Dave Stewart two to open proceedings on a deep two, the L.Stewart/Fleming combo went in to turbo mode and the reigning champs soon held a 10-0 advantage. The surprising scoring run eventually grew to 19-0 capped by a successful Josh Pittle and-one play before the drought was broken on a Tim Habelito floater at the six minute mark.
Technical fouls assessed to James Rosenow and Adam Kopittke inside the final two minutes of the quarter summed up a tense situation for the minor premier Raptors, who found themselves staring at an incredible 27-2 hole. To the team’s credit they continued toiling away and found a spark when Zach Williams-Hook converted a three point play close to the end of the first period, putting the score at 29-12. Luke Stewart returned fire by finding space and splashing a triple at the end of time to have the Suns up 32-12 at the first break.
With many predicting the Raptors to roll over and concede the match, the second quarter was all theirs. A Williams-Hook steal and dunk pushed the score to 36-22 and visibly energised the team. His effort was only bettered by Habelito who then reeled off four successive treys. By halftime the Suns lead had been pruned to 47-38.
The Raptors run continued in to the third period and began with Isaac Deakin providing the game’s highlight when he tossed a halfcourt alley-oop to Williams-Hook who was required to summon every ounce of his athleticism to make the impressive throw down.
The score closed to a 52-45 Suns advantage after Habelito attacked the bucket for a deuce, but this was as close as the Raptors would get to their opponents for the remainder of the game. With key guard Rosenow fouling out at the 3:00 mark, the speedy L.Stewart/Fleming combo again came to life and in the blink of an eye the lead had ballooned out to 70-51 with one period of play remaining.
The Raptors would be plagued by foul trouble throughout the championship quarter and play would eventually peter out to an 85-63 result, keeping the Suns’ dynasty intact as the DPL’s sole title holder in its young history.
Raptors GM Avikesh Singh took in the scene after the final siren. ''It hurts, man,'' Singh said. ''Just proud of every single guy that stepped foot on the floor for our team this season. Hopefully we'll have many more opportunities to fight for championships and be on this stage because this is what it's all about.''
Suns scorers – Luke Stewart 35, Ethan Fleming 14, Josh Pittle 11, Clint Mathiesen 10, Luke Patrick 6, Fraser Lowrie 5, Dave Stewart 4
Raptors scorers – Tim Habelito 26, Zach Williams-Hook 20, Hayden Dupuy 10, Isaac Deakin 6, James Rosenow 3
The DUNK Premier League is the Northside Wizards’ premier senior men’s competition. The new season will commence on Monday 11th July. Please direct all queries to the Competitions Manager via email to comps@northsidewizards.com or call 33255474.