PLAYING under the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) programme the Junior Elite Players (JEP) of the YBG had a bitter/sweet weekend which saw them go down to Georgetown’s number one first division club Ravens while getting the better of the Georgetown Masters. Both matches, played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall last Saturday and Sunday, saw the JEP gain a 42-34 points win of the Georgetown Masters while they blew a 16-point lead to lose 57-54 to the Ravens.
Playing in front of a small but appreciative crowd at Guyana’s premier indoor facility last Sunday, the JEP came on guns blazing, being led by captain Akeem Kanhai, Shelroy Thomas and Richard Mohandatt who troubled the city top club.
While Kanhai controlled the flow of the game at both ends of the court, he was able to find both Thomas and Mohandatt who played the flanks well and were able to make the open jumpers.
Defensively, the trio worked in cohesion and picked up several steals. Ravens were visibly rusty, having played no competitive basketball since last November, even though the team had been coming together frequently for practice sessions.
Prince Giddings and Linden Fraser were both able to keep the Ravens’ big men, especially Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts and Ryan Gullen, under control for the better part of the night.
However, with every rotation of the bench that allowed the principal JEP players to take a rest, Ravens would go on a surge which was led by Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune which resulted in ‘Orange Men’ closing the gap on the lead.
It got worse when Kanhai got fouled out with just four points leaving the Ravens’ smaller guards to take over.
Nonetheless, the game was still very competitive with the JEP not letting up to the vicious attack put on them by Ravens. Mohandatt and Thomas continued to find the net during their time on the court, while the big men, mostly Prince and Fraser, cleaned the glass.
It came down to a  close game after Ravens had taken the lead under a minute remaining in the game and point guard Marlon Pollydore, who enjoyed a decent run, took the final shot with the scores 57-54, from down town, but the ball hit the back rim and rattled out.
Fortune led all scorers with 18 points. He was the only Raven player to hit double figure. Tyron Hamid and Roberts netted eight and seven points respectively while Thomas (16) and Mohandatt (10) were the two top scorers for the JEP.
Meanwhile  last Saturday, the players, all said to be the part of a crop of ‘Next Generation’, were truly tested by the players of yesteryear.
Former National captain and point guard Lugard Mohan now FIBA Referee, rolled back the years and showed the youths why he was labelled as one of the best in the Caribbean during his prime by literally controlling the game and even matching the pace of the much younger players.
This was reflected by the halftime score which saw the Junior Elite players, led by Akeem Kanhai, hold a seven point (24-17) advantage.
Nothing  changed in the second period as the Junior Elite Players took the opportunity to apply what they had learnt during their various practice sessions leading up to the event. They probably never thought that their elderly opposition would have put up such a good challenge.
Mohan led all scores with 12 points while Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) presidential hopeful David Carto added 11 points for the Georgetown Masters.
Kanhai and Shelroy Thomas both shot eight points for the Junior Elite Players who had a frequent bench rotation system.
None of the junior players reached double digits as Richard Mohandatt netted six points, Prince Giddings and Linden Fraser four points each, and Jeffrey La Rose as well as Marlon Pollydore scored two points each, to round off the tally for their side.