By Daniel Haynes

IN a game that Guyana should have won easily, the U-16 male team made things difficult for themselves but pulled out a win courtesy of captain Jordan Alphonso’s buzzer-beater.Aruba were clearly the underdogs and less experienced of the two teams, and with the talent Guyana had on the floor there was no reason the game should have been a close one.
In the first quarter Guyana jumped out to a 10-4 run on the back of team play, good shot attempts and basketball IQ.

However as the quarter waned, all shades of the Guyana team the crowd had come to see faded away as the minutes did. Guyana looked inexperienced and nervous on the big stage. The locals struggled to a 17-13 point lead and hoped to pick up some momentum in the second quarter.

The second quarter showed the same song and dance from Guyana. Countless turnovers and easy shot attempts left the local side wanting. Led by captain Jordan Alphonso, the team heaved its way to a 30-30 tie at the half. Aruba had the help of a three at the buzzer to tie the game.

In the third quarter the locals jumped out to a 4-point lead, but could never extend the lead past 4 points. Zion Gray was instrumental for Guyana, coming up with 6 steals on the night at just the crucial moments. However it was not enough to stop the bleeding and Guyana ended the quarter down by 3 with a 39-36 scoreline.

The fourth quarter saw Aruba jump out to a 7-point lead going perfect on their first three attempts. First with a three followed by two quick jumpshots.
Zion Gray was once again instrumental in the play by coming up with yet another steal on the night which led to a Kevon Wiggins’ three. On the next trip down Aruba came up empty and Guyana hit another three, courtesy of Andrew Johnson. Down one, the locals scored in transition to take the lead with 47-46.

Guyana’s free-throw shooting however kept the Aruba side in the game. But that changed when Johnson hit two clutch shots with 2:35 left and pushed the score to 53-51.
With 11.5 in the game Jordan Alphonso stepped to the line. Struggling all night Jordan missed both. Aruba came down and Andre Bryson drew the foul on what could have been a continuation to give Aruba the lead. However, Bryson went to the line to take the lead. Missing the first and making the second, the game was tied.

In heart-breaking fashion with two seconds left, Alphonso caught the inbounds pass and with one bounce hit an off-the-glass turnaround jump shot to seal the game for the locals. He ended the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds but had 9 turnovers. out of Guyana’s total 34. The game statistics also showed Guyana struggling with 37% from the foul line and 9 assists in the game.

Following the loss, Aruba’s coach Antonio D’Albero stated that his team did a great job in front of such a large crowd since the players only started playing three months ago. Moving forward he stated the players were proud of their performance and would bounce back.
Guyana coach Lugard Mohan stated his team had too many moments of individual play but fared fairly well in their first game. He stated that the team would review film ahead of the Guyana/Suriname encounter.