KWAKWANI started their quest for honours in the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA)/Hamid Foundation Under-23 championship in ominous fashion when they smothered second-ranked Victory Valley Royals 55-25 while Retrieve Raiders overwhelmed Christianburg Pistons 48-8 on Sunday night. In the opening encounter on Saturday night National player Terron Welch and the Half Mile Bulls beat Block 22 Flames 85-53 and Amelia’s Ward Jets defeated Bankers Trust Falcons 57-46 at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
The Kwakwani side never seemed affected by their late arrival due to some transportation problems experienced on the way to Linden, but asserted their dominance over the Royals behind Shafeek Thomas who led them with 12 points, with support coming from Jamal Gilkes on 10, Leonard Primo eight and Domar Gladstone seven.
The best players for the Royals were Yannick Tappin with 10 and Daniel Lee six points.
Retrieve Raiders closed out the Christianburg Pistons 48-8 on their return to competitive basketball with a make-shift side.
The Pistons could score only eight points in the encounter, as the Raiders impressed, through Travis Sutton with 10 points, Cole Winter nine and the Williams brothers Omisi and Otis with six points each.
The competition continues on Friday night when Bulls will oppose Pistons at 18:30hrs and Jets take on Royals at 20:30hrs.