UNBEATEN Alleyne’s Retrieve Raiders will seek to keep their clean slate of victories when they face the might of Amelia’s Ward Jets this evening from  19:00 h to determine the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) Under-19 champions at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
The two teams go head to head after the Raiders prevailed by a basket 56-54 in their earlier clash.
The supporting game from 19:00 h will bring together a fight for third place between Block 22 Flames and Victory Valley Royals.
To reach the final the Raiders easily disposed of Block 22 Flames while the Jets scored an impressive win against Victory Valley Royals.
National youth player Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai will be the main plank in the Jets lineup and should receive solid support from Parrish Cadogan, Theodore Tappin and Marlon Pollydore.
On the other hand, the Raiders should expect the likes of Jeffrey LaRose, Yannick Primo, Devrol Wilson and Dual Cameron to bring them victory.
The Raiders got the better of Kanhai and company when they clashed in the round robin group play but tonight’s final cancels out any thoughts of that loss for the multi-talented Kanhai.
However, the Raiders feel that they have the key to keeping Kanhai in check and will be looking  for a team effort to reduce Kanhai‘s effectiveness inside. If Kanhai is forced to seek outside jumpers, the Raiders do stand a better chance of a repeat win.
Their inside presence of LaRose and company will do well to make the game in the paint offensive and have their opponents try to shoot them down on defence.
However, the Jets must also guard against depending on Kanhai alone, which will play into the hands of the Raiders, giving them a better chance of matching with the Jets in every department of their game. But should Kanhai get his outside game going then the chances of Raiders winning them will be seriously affected.