LED by their superb guard Terron Welch who knocked up 33 tournament-high points and a talented supporting unit, the Half Mile Bulls continued their dominance of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s (LABA) Under-23 championship with a dominant 69-61 to down Amelia’s Ward Jets in the final last Friday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
But it was the Jets who took the jump start, doubling their opponents’ score 10-5 at the end of the first quarter, behind some fine inside penetration from centre Adrian Webster and they still held sway at lemon time 35-32.

However, this seemed to be a wake-up call for the Bulls, as Welch and company engineered a swift turnaround of fortunes and in the pivotal third quarter, they took hold of the game and ended that period 60-49.
They developed the lead in this stanza by as many as 20 points and cruised home finally 69-61.
Welch, later named the Most Valuable Player (MVP), earned the award as he not only top-scored with 33 points, but also collected seven rebounds, a similar number of steals and dished out six assists, while guard Dennis Niles scored 12 points had four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Power forward Travin Dryden got 10 points and seven rebounds and Jamal Bethune netted eight points, took five rebounds and stole the ball 12 times for the winners.
In the third place play-off game Victory Valley Royals took that position with a sound 66-40 victory. They had taken a 27-5, 43-15, 58-28 and then 66-40 through quarters. Keifer Tappin was the game’s best scorer with 21 points for the Royals as Nevin Glenn contributed 13 for the winners, while for the Raiders, Otis Williams got 10 points.
The presence of Adrian Webster inside was not enough for a winning score by the Jets as he netted 23 points and hauled down 21 boards. The other top scorers for the Jets were Parris Cadogan with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots and Keith Butters who also contributed 11 points.
The tournament was supported by sponsors Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc., Shawn Myers, Jason Adams, Jimmy Reece, NCN Linden, R and S Luckhoo, G-Six Promotions, Thandy Inniss, the Simon’s family, Dinky’s Barber Shop, Legend Sports Bar, 104.3 Power FM Radio and Kerwin Abrams.

By Joe Chapman