KWAKWANI made a statement in their opener of the U-16 battle of the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) Titan Bowl X by humiliating Plaisance Secondary 68-5 on Friday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Plaisance Secondary could not get past the defence of the Berbice River school and they struggled to get quality shots off. In the end, Ishmail Chapman led his side with just three points in a performance the East Coast school would want to forget.

Elijah David and Clint Adolph led the attack with 15 points and six rebounds and 14 points and six rebounds respectively for the winners.

The U-16 competition started with Arima Secondary whipping President’s College 40-17.

Kevon Phillips and Kasim English were the main scorers for the Region Ten school with 11 points and eight rebounds; and eight points and four rebounds respectively.

Kemal Mentore led PC with eight points and five rebounds.

In another U-16 clash, Marian Academy, led by a tournament-high 28 points and 23 rebounds from Jether Harris, were able to knockout St Stanislaus College 42-34.

Dwayne Best added 10 points for the winners.

Mustapha Kadir attacked the boards with ferocity for Saints to grab a whopping 27 rebounds to go with 16 points.  Brandon McKoy was the next best finisher with seven points.

In the other U-16 clash of the day, Bishops’ High edged past St Rose’s High by a single point, 35-34.

Keron Bacchus led the winners with 20 points and 12 boards, while Chris Perez was equally impressive for St Rose’s High with 20 points and six rebounds.

FEMALE DEVELOPMENT
Meanwhile in the Female Development competition, Kwakwani Secondary gained revenge over three-time defending champions of the YBG National Schools Basketball Festivals, Marian Academy, by defeating them 39-23.

Shania Sears powered her way to 19 points, 10 rebounds and six steals for the Festivals’ runners up, while Atalia Rose added 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Aaliya Singh, who scored nine points and five rebounds, led Marian Academy.

St Stanislaus also showed massive improvement when they took down Queen’s College in their encounter. The last time the two teams met was in the Festival’s East Coast/GT Regionals semi-final and QC had defeated Saints 14-7. On Friday, Saints gained revenge with a 40-27 win.

Leana Benons exploded with 18 points, seven rebounds and six steals for the winners, while QC were led by Naiomi Barkoye, who finished with a double-double (14 points and 16 rebounds).

Saints had a chance to re-write another defeat, when they tackled Marian Academy in the semi-finals yesterday afternoon.

Several key players who were missing in the first-round clash (against Kwakwani) were expected to compete for Marian. When the two teams last met, in the first round of this year’s Festival, Marian had shut down Saints 31-2.

The U-16 semis were also scheduled for last evening, followed by the U-18 semis. All three finals are scheduled for today.  Action tips off at 17:00h with the female battle.