Colts, Royals collide in tonight’s National Club Championship semi-finals
Defending champions Colts
Defending champions Colts

… Kobras, Ravens to do battle

THE semi-finals of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) National Club Championship is on tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, and the line-up has the potential to be one of the best showdowns in the tournament’s recent history, bringing together some of basketball’s bitter rivalries.

In the opening game from 19:00hrs, Ravens, the once-feared team in Guyana, will face Kobras, the ‘preverbial upstarts’ in a clash that is expected to be one that most basketball fans have been anticipating.
The night’s second game will see a rematch of last year’s final, as defending champions Colts face off with Linden’s Victory Valley Royals.

2017 finalists Victory Valley Royals

Last year, Colts repeated as champions with a thrilling 87-85 points win over the Royals which many regard as one of the most entertaining finals of the GABF’s showpiece.
However, this time around, Colts will be without the services of Dave Causeway, the sensational point guard, who, along with fellow guard Shelroy Thomas, had picked apart the Royals’ defence with precision.

Causeway took his talents to Pacesetters, one of Colts’ rivals and as such, the ‘champs’, though yet to be really challenged this year, look ‘shaky’ in the back-court.
Standout point guard Stanton Rose has been picking up where Causeway left off, continuing the trend of Colt’s dominant back-court, but, it’s not the same as last year.

Ravens basketball club

Colts will miss Causeway’s relentless approach on defence, especially coming up against an unselfish Royals team, led by two-way Harold Adams, the ‘big man’ who can do it all.
Adams, known for scoring 111 points in a game in Linden last year, is the backbone of the team but with players like Marlon Pollydore and Orlan Glasgow, the Royals could be very dangerous when firing on all cylinders.

It will be interesting to see how Shane Webster, last year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) matches up with Adams and defends him on the perimeter.
Meanwhile, the opening game should set the tone for an evening of enthralling basketball when Travis Burnett tries to lead the Kobras past Darcel Harris and the Ravens.
Burnett, popularly known as ‘The Blur’ because of his quickness, has proved to be the leader on the recently-formed Kobras unit, but his rivalry with Ravens dates back to his days as a point guard for Pacesetters.

Kobras basketball Club

The inclusion of former Ravens stand-out player Jermaine Slater and the recent acquisition of former Pacesetters marksman Naylon Loncke as head coach make the Kobras versus Ravens clash an intriguing one.

Ravens will look to their experienced backcourt duo in Harris and Ryan Stephney, as well as Dominic Vincente’s sniper-like shooting to get them over the physical-playing Kobras.
There are more questions than answers surrounding tonight’s two semi-finalists, but one thing is sure: fans can expect some pulsating action from jump-ball.

The team crowned National champions this year will pocket $600 000, while second- and third-place will go home with $400 000 and $200 000 respectively.
Individual prizes totalling $200 000 will be shared among the MVP, the player scoring the most points and the player with the most rebounds.

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