… YBG Elite too strong for Ravens juniors
THE Ravens     Basketball Club continued their stronghold on the sport in the city, after coming from behind to upstage the Georgetown All-Stars 57- 50 on Saturday evening, to win the inaugural Kevin Lawrence Memorial Extravaganza. Playing at the sport’s premier indoor facility, the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) top club displayed brilliant basketball in front of an almost full house and while the final score does not reflect the type of game that was played, the fans were certainly kept entertained.
In the supporting game, the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) Elite squad, surged to a 69–53 win over the Ravens junior side, in a game that was very compelling.
Their match set the perfect tone for the evening, since the game was not only to honour the passing of Lawrence, a former national player and member the Ravens club, but also to mark the return of competitive basketball in Guyana, given the fact that the sport had been dormant for the past six months.
There was a standing ovation for both teams as they were introduced. The game started a little slowly, showing some signs of rustiness after not playing on the hardwood for a while. The first-quarter score (16-10) which was in favour of GT All-Stars showed how poorly the ball was shot from the floor.
Ravens were a bit more sloppy in the initial stages and were shut out in the second quarter, only managing to score one point in the entire period and trailed 17-24 at halftime.
However, it seems like a motivational speech of some sort was given in the locker room as a different brand of basketball was displayed in the third quarter.
The diminutive Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune, who ended with a game-high 16 points, was the driving force behind the comeback and along with point guard Stephan ‘Penny’ Henry (8) the GT All-Stars defence became very porous, along some easy baskets.
There wasn’t a one-man show for the GT All-Stars, as every player was able to get on the score sheets but no one played a dominant game.
Ravens entered the fourth quarter up by four points (36–32) and though they (GT All-Stars) tried as much as they could, Ravens players were literally all over the court and closed the game without a fight.
Apart from Fortune, Travis ‘Cook-up’ Foster was the only other player to touch double digits, scoring ten points. Ravens forward Dwayne ‘Brown-Sugar’ Roberts seemed very out-of-form on the offence but made up with his tenacious defending.
Travis Burnett was the highest scorer for the GT All-Stars with ten points and Royston Siland with eight and Richard Braithwaite, six, were the other primary scorers.
Meanwhile, the YBG Elite continue to show that the sport of basketball is in good hands for the future with their clinical display of the game under the watchful eyes of their coach Lugard Mohan.
Mohan, a former national player and also certified FIBA Referee was able to push his youthful line-up, led by national junior captain Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai (19) and Shelroy Thomas (20).
Thomas and Kanhai combined for 39 points of the team’s total which also had some spirited performance by Marlon Pollydore – the point guard who accounted himself with well over 15 assists in the game.
For the losers, who were obviously no match for the YBG team, Dellon ‘Garbage’ Robertson had 19 points, most of which came from put backs while Antwin ‘Sanchez’ Benjamin, Jermaine Slater and Keon Hayles all shot eight points for Ravens.