Tigers 103 Raiders 49 - The National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
The Everton Tigers recorded an historic landslide cup final victory with a thrilling 50 point mauling of the Plymouth Raiders and a night their fans will never forget.
In only their second professional season the Everton In the Community start-up basketball programme have silenced their critics and put together a gifted team of players who are on course to win the BBL Treble for Liverpool.
Cup Final MVP Andre Smith prowled the court with his trademark swagger and fearsome play, finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Smith had already predicted an easy win and after high-fiving the Everton fans in the front row he declared: "I said we were gonna punish them and we did. This is what happens when teams don't execute against us, we are relentless.
"We are a strong team unit and we are determined to blow this league apart... bring out the broom, we can sweep everything!"
Everton started the game with confidence, allowing Smith to indulge with a flashy backwards tip pass inside to Delme Herriman for an easy, early bucket.
Only the Raiders' Gaylon Moore and Kwbana Beckles seemed to know the game had started and caused problems inside until the Tigers began blocking their passing lanes and Richard Midgley sank two three-pointers.
Plymouth point guard Anthony Martyn tried to take matters into his own hands with a nifty cross-over move, but after penetrating the key, found he had nowhere to go against the Tigers' imposing defense.
Smith added another three points as the Tigers' aggressive play left the Raiders unable to convert.
Olu Babalola picked up an early second personal foul sending Martyn crashing to the floor. But he missed both free throws with Smith snapping down a rebound and converting a fast-break play at the other end giving the Tigers a first quarter 20-11 lead.
Smith proved his defensive mettle with a block on Beckles. And only Babalola's third personal foul managed to halt the Tigers' assault, causing head coach Tony Garbelotto to call a time-out.
His team were pulling away but he still had heated advice for his players to ensure they maintained their killer instinct. League veteran Tony Dorsey entered the game while Babalola and Smith took a breather.
Another Midgley three-pointer and Marcus Bailey converting all his free throws, made it look like the Tigers were on course for a blow-out victory at half time with a 50-22 advantage.
The Tigers came out of the break and continued their excellent ball movement with a fast-passing play from Chris Haslam to Bailey and again inside to Smith for an easy lay-up.
The frustrated Raiders started becoming physical in a vain attempt to stunt the Tigers' assault. But it only led to scrappy play from both teams while Plymouth racked up fouls.
Everton suffered a rare turnover when Bailey couldn't make an airborne pass without landing first. Then Herriman received the ball for an open fast break, but after cautiously looking backwards was caught from behind with another hard foul.
The Tigers regained their fierce composure and Chris Haslam was a tower of strength in the middle as they rebuffed the Raiders' dirty physical play.
Incredibly, Plymouth still hadn't improved their embarrassing 26-point tally with three minutes left in the third quarter, while Smith led the Tigers' scoring efforts with 20 points and Bailey adding 19.
The Tigers' thirst for victory was undiminished as Babalola stole the ball and ran the length of the floor only to be hacked by Patrick Fitzpatrick but he converted both free throws, making the scoreline 72-28.
Stunned Plymouth fans were given cause for a consolation cheer when Moore found an opening for a two-handed dunk, but Bailey answered with another big three-point nail in the coffin.
The Tigers eventually showed signs of weariness from their brutal attack on Plymouth with a few mis-timed passes. Midgley sat down to give Liverpool talent Adam Nowell some playtime. But the delirious Tigers fans were hungry for more and began chanting 'We want Chiz...' and their other homegrown favourite Chiz Onuora entered the game.
It was the night of the Tigers and their victory party started early after Smith drained another three-pointer with three minutes left, allowing mascot Toxteth the Tiger to launch into his caterpillar dance routine.
Andre Smith received the coveted MVP golden basketball and captain Richard Midgley lifted the BBL cup, as the broken Raiders retreated to their dressing room averting their eyes from the final scoreboard, which read 103-49.
Post-game, Assistant Coach Henry Mooney said: "I thought we could beat them, but never by as big a margin as that.
"We've been working hard all year and we didn't once fail to take advantage of the fact that they just couldn't execute today.
"This is the biggest winning margin in BBL history and we're very proud of the result and to be bringing some silverware home to Liverpool."
Head coach Tony Garbelotto said: "We will not rest on our laurels. And we will continue to build on this win. Our team is blessed, because we have a few players who could have been awarded MVP status.
"Andre Smith is like a force of nature, but Chris Haslam is also a wall of strength and Richard Midgley is a consistent and unselfish point guard.
"We also want to thank all the fans for their support and we're looking forward to bringing the Cup to Greenbank Academy next Friday."
The Everton Tigers welcome you to see the Cup as they take on the Cheshire Jets in their local derby at the Greenbank Academy this Friday, 23, at 7pm.
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