Bagotstown fought long and hard Sunday night to ensure that the East Bank Basketball title remained in the village when the team came up against finals first timers, Barama at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Pacesettters’ first division captain, Kwesi Roberts demonstrated his leadership ability by guiding the Bagots-town side to their second consecutive title; Bagotstown edged Barama 55-53 in a long-awaited contest.
Roberts scored 11 points and also copped the award for scoring the most points in the tournament. Horace Hodges chalked up 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Roberts with a double-double for Bagotstown.
Jets’ Trevor Profitt led the challenge for Barama with 18 points that were good enough to earn him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Byron Pearson finished with 14 points for the plywood company.
Bagotstown signalled their intention to retain the crown early in the first half when the team capitalised on Barama’s pre warm-up jitters to lead 8-2 but Barama’s extremely vocal supporters woke them up in time.
A three-point shot and four consecutive points from Pearson put Barama up 14-10 for the first time in the game. Profitt took advantage of Randy Burgess’ five turnovers in the first ten minutes of the first half ensuring that they were converted to valuable points.
The two teams traded points until Bagotstown silenced the Barama posse with a 7-0 run to take a 25-20 lead at half time. The champs extended that lead to 34-22 in the first five minutes of the second half.
Barama was not to be counted out yet; Pearson nailed two consecutive three-point jump shots, then a third three-point shot on alternate possession to haul the team to within one with the score set at 39-38 in favour of Bagotstown.
The offensive surge by Barama brought their supporters back into the game and supplied enough energy for the team on defence. The team forced six consecutive Bagotstown turnovers in the final ten minutes of the game.
Bagotstown was equally up to the challenge and did not see the team relinquishing the championship trophy at no time. Profitt hit a deciding three-point jumper to give Barama their first lead in the second half at 49-48.
However, the lead was short-lived, lasting only one possession as Bagotstown regained the edge on the other side of the court. Barama was dealt a blow in offence when Pearson was fouled out with six minutes remaining on the game clock.
The game switched to an aggressive title bout between two East Bank basketball giants with five minutes to play. The time did not yield many points as tempers flared on the court over defensive issues. To be exact, the last five minutes saw Barama add four points to 49 while Bagotstown added seven points to 48 to stomp their authority on the East Bank of Demerara as the top team in the district.
Scorpions and Bagotstown centre, Darren Thomas took home the most rebounds of the tournament award while Grove’s Shermon Oxford and Prospect’s Mark Richards got the most assists and most steals awards respectively.
Supply/Soesdyke’s Vivian Alder and Lance Barker received the most blocks and best improved player trophies respectively. The best rookie of the tournament award went to Quincy Boodhoo.
Herstelling blew away Prospect 72-48 in the third place playoff at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Sunday night. The team had four players in double figures as Prospect struggled to put their offense together.
Gregory Horsham and Orel Webster top scored for Herstelling with 15 points each while Clarence Blackman added 13 points and Clebert Tornhill 11 points to claim third place for Herstelling in the competition.
Lance Gouveia finished with 13 points while Mark Richards raked in 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double in a losing effort for Prospect. Sunday night’s games brought to an end the 13th annual East Bank Basketball Championships.
