CHRISTIANBURG/WISMAR Secondary (Multi) clinched the 9th Linden Secondary Schools Under-19 basketball championship in the dying moments, edging past Wisburg Secondary 52-51 after finding themselves down with under a minute to go last Saturday at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.

The final was expected to be one of the better contests seen in this championship which began in April but was stretched out due to various reasons.
The six-team tournament saw Wisburg Secondary down by nine points after the first quarter ended and it looked easy sailing for the eventual winners who were led by the established Travin ‘Babylon’ Dryden and their leading points-getter in the tournament Terron Welch, who both got into their rhythm early.
However, the game took a turn in the second quarter as the Wisburg side, who had never reached the final four, seemed set to create an upset after playing well, before losing against Multi in the preliminary round of the championship.
In fact Wisburg outscored their opponents 19-9 as they were led by not only their best player Tahquille Johnson but also their dependent scorer Aubrey Campbell who came into his own when it mattered most.
These two players as usual carried the offence to the Multi boys and, even though the Wisburg side trailed by a single point after the pivotal third quarter 39-40, ensured that the battle for supremacy was truly on.
In the final quarter the Multi side could not contain their opponents who matched them basket for basket and as the seconds ticked away the Wisburg unit had the game to win as they led by three 51-48.
It seemed that the unblemished record of the Christianburg Wismar Secondary team would have been snapped, but the Wisburg side turned the ball over in three possessions after Seon McKinnon had pushed them into the lead by scoring three consecutive baskets, but the Multi side switched their offensive strategy.
In fact their point guard Keifer Tappin after not being able to dish off to either Dryden and Welch in crunch time, nailed one from beyond the arc that tied the game and with just 4.9 seconds he drove the lane to create a foul.
Tappin only nailed one of two free-shots but it was enough to get his team the championship, with Welch walking away with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award as well as the leading scorer title and Dryden the top scorer in the final for his team with 17 points.
Keifer Tappin won the Most Steals award while coach Malcolm James earned the right to be called the Best Coach after his team won all their matches.
The most points for the losing side in the final were scored by Johnson who was also named his team’s Most Valuable Player in the final, while his teammate Aubrey Campbell was their Best Scorer in the final with 17 points and he also grabbed the Most Rebounds in the final, with Wisburg walking away with the Most Disciplined Team award.
Linden Foundation Secondary cruised past last year’s champions Linden Technical Institute (LTI) 86-50 for third and there were awards also for the losing semifinalists’ top scorers in the tournament, with Vibert Benjamin getting the award from Linden Foundation Secondary and Marlon Alexander for LTI.
United States-based former National Women’s head coach Linden ‘Sancho’ Alphonso sponsored the 2013 Championship T-Shirts while EURON Equipment Repairs donated the first place trophy and replicas.
Marlon Josiah, Orin Louison and Lennox Allen donated the second, third and fourth place trophies respectively, while the Haynes Foundation out of New Jersey joined with Allen to donate the medallions.
Another US-based Guyanese Maxie Stephens donated 11 of the 12 individual prizes including the Most Valuable Player of the final, Best Rebounder, Best Offensive Player and Most Disciplined Team among others. Alphonso also donated a Most Valuable Player Trophy.
The local sponsors were beverage giant Banks DIH Limited and Two Brothers Gas Station of West Demerara.