Royals crowned champions

By Joe Chapman

THE third-seed Victory Valley Royals captured the second edition of the ‘King of De Ring’ GT Beer Open basketball championship last Saturday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.The Royals, through their forwards Orlando Glasgow and Trevor Profitt, overcame a 13-point deficit going into the final quarter against top-ranked Retrieve Raiders.
Playing before a fair-sized crowd the Royals began their title chase leading 13-9 after the first quarter ended.
But Raiders recovered well in the second quarter and with a 24-11 run were up at the break 33-24, hinging on an 11-point performance from former national shooting forward Neil Marks and current guard Keon Cameron who scored eight.
Raiders continued to play well and when the third quarter ended they were leading with a 13-point cushion 47-34.
However, the Royals were not to be written off and their challenge was spearheaded by the duo of Glasgow and Profitt who combined well to dislodge the Raiders in the final stretch, outscoring them 27-10 for a thrilling 61-57 final score.
The dangerous Profitt with timely penetrations had a 14-point second half showing for his efforts, while Glasgow, who had a brilliant tournament, netted 10 points in the last two quarters for a top score of 15 points.
The Raiders’ Marks had 17 game-high points while Cameron netted 16 and Omally Sampson 10 for the losing finalists.
Victory Valley Royals copped the winners’ trophy and $100 000, while Raiders came away with $75 000 and a trophy as Half Mile Bulls, who gained a walkover win when Kwakwani did not show for their third-place playoff game, collected $25 000 and a trophy.
The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation president Nigel Hinds was among the many who witnessed the final at the MSC hard court.