THE Retrieve Raiders and Victory Valley Royals basketball clubs were the first two teams to record victories when the 2012 Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) basketball season got under way. Sponsored by Trophy Stall, the league which features seven participating teams was initially scheduled to start last Friday but persistent rainfall prevented any play.
However, when the clouds closed, fans who converged on the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court were thoroughly entertained.
In the opening game, Raiders got the better of Block 22 Flames 73-28 while Royals easily eclipsed Half Mile Bulls 87-44.
The Raiders, now featuring National forward Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts in their line-up, after the tenacious player made his exodus to Linden, due to the inactivity of the sport in Georgetown, led 23-4 at the end of the first quarter and then closed the half by 24 points (39-15).
Roberts only played the first half and ended with six points but another National player, Neil Marks, piloted his team’s offence and ended with 15 points, while Omar Sam had 12.
Raiders restricted the Flames to only 13 second-half points and none of the players from the team based in the Block 22 area was able to reach double digits; Shawn Cameron netted seven and guard Quincy Richmond scored five.
In the second clash of the double-header, the game started as a seemingly close contest, but ended up in a blowout as Royals, the winners of the last league and run by the association, dominated early in the tournament.
Royals won every period, leading 16-12 at the end of the first and then closed the half 36-22. They were led by the quartet of Chris Williams, Orlan Glasgow, Marlon Pollydore and Harold Adams. As a result, Bulls found it difficult getting into the paint and had to resort to taking mostly outside shots.
Adams finished with a game-high 24 points and kept Bulls out of the game as the Half Mile team trailed 28-59 at the end of the third quarter.
Williams displayed his marksman-like aim from beyond the arc, hitting three of five attempts and finished with 17 points. Pollydore, a junior national point guard, was a bother for his opponents at both ends of the floor and finished with 12 points while returning point guard Julius ‘J’ Carter scored an entertaining ten.
Michael Turner, the Bulls prime scorer tried his best to help his team over a tough Royals unit, scoring most of his 16 points in the second half. Keon Cameron (6) and Mark Rose (5) were the other top scorers for Bulls.
The tournament continued last evening at the same venue with Amelia’s Ward Jets facing Royals and Kashif and Shanghai Kings coming up against Retrieve Raiders.