The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net For the third consecutive year, the battle between the Boomer G Angels and Four J's Cheetahs will decide the New Providence Women's Basketball Association title. And, once again, the defending champions opened with a quick lead in the series. The Cheetahs took game one of the best of five series 66-54 over the Angels at DW Davis gym Tuesday night. Cheetahs head coach Mario Bowleg said his team's championship pedigree was integral to start off the series with an important game one victory. "We knew going into this series, once we played our level of basketball, we can beat any team in this league. It's just up to us to get out there, play our game and prove that. They beat us three times in the regular season and I think they came in over confident, expecting to be able to roll over us based on what happened earlier in the year. "But we felt we had to make a statement not just to them, but to the remainder of the league, that we are the champions and if you want to win this title you are going to have to beat us and take it from us, but we are not going to give it up easily," he said. "For us it was just a matter of raising our energy level and playing with intensity throughout four quarters. In the regular season, we did a lot of walking around and not taking each game as seriously as we should but this is a different ballgame." Game two is slated for 8pm Thursday at DW Davis. For the Cheetahs to take a demanding two- game lead, Bowleg said, "we have to continue moving the ball." "That is one of the keys to beating this team. We were able to move the ball well and get open shots and, maybe even more important than that, we have to remain aggressive on defense," he said. "We have a lot of experienced players and they know what is at stake now that the championship is here. We have seasoned players that have played basketball at every level so they know how important it is for them to come out and set the tone in game one." The Cheetahs advanced to the finals after a 2-1 series win over the Johnson Lady Truckers. The Truckers took the opening game of the series but were unable to close the door on the defending champions who came back to win consecutive games. In the other half of the bracket, the Bommer G Angels clinched the championship rematch with a 2-1 series win over the Super Value Cybots Queens. This year's championship is the third edition in what has quickly become the league's most heated rivalry. The Angels claimed the 2010 title in the first championship meeting between the two but were beaten by the Cheetahs in an attempt to repeat in 2011. Both teams won their respective titles in four games in their winning season.