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PrimeTime Hangs on to Beat Cary, Wins TRBL Playoffs

June 17, 2013 - Tobacco Road Basketball League (TRBL)
PrimeTime Players News Release


Fayetteville, NC: The PrimeTime Players (Ft. Mill, SC) cruised through their Tobacco Road Basketball League (TRBL) semifinal matchup with a 33-point win over Big Texas (Jacksonville), while the Cary Invasion took 3 overtimes to get by Team HoopForLyfe (Concord) to set up a championship game that TRBL fans had been looking for all year.

Schedule conflicts prohibited the Players and Cary from meeting during the regular season, but the matchup that seemed inevitable would happen in a game that would be a repeat of the 2012 TRBL championship game. The PrimeTime Players were the defending TRBL champions and had won 26 TRBL games in a row coming into the championship game. The Cary Invasion were the unbeaten TRBL East champions who boasted a 36-5 over the last 3 seasons, including a league championship, two regular season championships, and 3 finals appearances. All that was left was to play ball.

Cary got the first early bucket, but PrimeTime showed why they are the league's best out of the gate. Crisp passing and quick ball movement set up open jumpers and easy shots for the defending champions. Cary, still appearing weary from the night before, struggled to find its offense. The Players cut off passing lanes and left nothing open. An early double-digit lead grew to 22 points at the half, 68-46 in favor of PrimeTime.

The lead looked insurmountable to most teams, but the Invasion had experience in closing big deficits, most recently coming back from 20 points down in the third quarter to win the night before. The Invasion picked up the tempo in the third quarter through its signature press, and the Cary jump shooters finally found some rhythm. The deficit was cut in half to 11 points at the end of the third, 93-82 PrimeTime. Cary dialed up the pressure in the fourth quarter even more, closing the gap to just 2 possessions by the middle of the fourth quarter.

But the Cary opponent was not just any team. They were the PrimeTime Players, the juggernaut from South Carolina that plays 100 games per year, taking out nearly everyone its path. Down by six with the ball in the closing minutes of the game, Cary made a key steal, but then immediately turned the ball over to the waiting hands of a PrimeTime Player who drained a shot behind the arc. PrimeTime hit its free throws and hung on to win 126-118, earning its second straight TRBL Playoff Championship. PrimeTime's Chris Moore and Sean Barnette finished the game with 27 and 28 points, respectively. Invasion guard Fred Little caught fire late, leading all scorers with 33 points.

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