The Pepsi Sonics nation-wide invitational basketball tournament got underway Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with top teams Disciples and Courts Pacesetters ‘B’ completing impressive victories.
A total of twelve games were set for the night in the first round of the two-day tournament with 10 minutes running time per half. Disciples eased past Demerara Panthers 31-19 while Pacesetters ‘B’ defeated Westsiders Nismes 27-15.
Eagles ‘B’ edged Firehawks 24-22 while Scorpions ‘A’ crushed Hopetown Warriors ‘B’ 42-18.
Hopetown ‘A’ then picked up the slack when they devastated the Devastators 41-26 whilst Ravens defeated Wales Vikings 23-13 in the first half of the tournament.
Clippers clipped Nets 25-22; Pacesetters ‘A’ beat Bounty Colts ‘B’ 26-7; Pepsi Sonics Gold defeated Bounty Colts ‘A’ 35-28; Prospect Jammers edged Pepsi Sonics Blue 24-22; Eagles ‘A’ defeated Scorpions ‘B’ 22-21 and Panthers ‘B’ blew away Pepsi Sonics Twist 24-7 in the second half of the tournament Saturday night.
The first game of the night placed the highly competitive Disciples team against the Panthers in a game that looked like it could go either way in the beginning.
Seasoned point-guard, John Fraser, opened the Disciples’ account with a right hand lay-up while Panthers’ forward Ian Klien responded with a `put-back’ basket.
The Disciples’ understanding of the concept of running time helped them rush the ball up-court looking for quick offense while putting pressure on the Panthers defense at the same time.
Shooting guard Dave Causeway, along with Fraser, controlled the pace for the Disciples offense. The team took a 9-7 lead with four minutes to play in the first-half compliments of a three-point jumper from Causeway.
At the end of the first-half, the Disciples were up 19-15. The Panthers speedy guard, George Eastman, kept the team in the game on offense with accurate assists and the occasional jump-shot.
However, the team did little work on defense and was soon lagging behind 19-26 with less than three minutes left in the second-half.
At this stage, the Panthers employed a full-court pressure defense but it was too late.
The Disciples continued to outclass the Panthers in every department and were soon up 31-19 with seconds remaining on the clock.
The Panthers ‘A’ team was the first casualty of the tournament.
The other front-runner in the third-division tournament, Courts Pacesetters ‘B’ team made light work of Westsiders Nismes in the grossly defensive showdown. The first half barely yielded twelve points (9-3 in favor of Pacesetters) as both teams struggled to finish easy baskets.
However, the tempo changed in the second-half as Nismes crept back into the game trailing by one point (11 -12) with seven minutes remaining. Nismes’ Vanric Felix hit a huge three-point jumper that equalled the scores at 14.
In the final five minutes of the game the Nismes team made at least one turnover on every possession. Pacesetters capitalised on the jittery and butter-fingered Nismes team to take a 25-15 lead. The game ended with the score on 27-15 in favor of the Pacesetter ‘B’ team.
The tournament continued last night with twelve teams advancing to the next round. The semi-final and final were also scheduled to be played last night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
At stake is $35,000 for the winning team while second, third and fourth place teams will receive $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament will pocket $2,000.
