After the initial hiccup with rain putting a damper on its opening round matches, the Guyana Secondary Schools Basketball Association’s (GSSBA) league tournament has taken off with a number of exciting match-ups.
In one of the most exciting games so far, Charlestown Secondary School administered a sound 31-point thrashing on East Ruimveldt Secondary School in the second week of competition.
Charlestown out-hustled their opponents and grabbed a commanding 20-point lead at half-time to psychologically take their opponents out of the game.
East Ruimveldt Secondary School relied solely on Leon Prince, who scored 19 of his team’s total 21 points. And the team scored just seven points in the second half, as opposed to Charlestown’s eighteen.
Paul Lynch of Charlestown Secondary led his team with 19 points while managing four rebounds and four assists.
Central High School edged long time rivals Brickdam Secondary 28-24 in one of the closest finishes of the week.
Brickdam were down 12-19 at half time but came roaring back in a last gasp effort. But Central buckled down, tightened its defence and managed to hold on for the win.
School of the Nations also made its way into the win column by securing an impressive 39-11 victory over Nehemiah Comprehensive Secondary School.
Although Nehemiah Comprehensive kept within seven points of their opponents at the half (15-8), they barely managed to score three second half points while School of the Nations caught fire scoring 24 points.
Yonie Gordon and Dwayne Clarke of School of the Nations led all scores with 14 points each.
St. John’s College pulled off one the biggest upsets of the league so far when the stunned St. Roses 25-19 last Friday.
Poor ball movement and selfish plays contributed to St Roses’ defeat while their hungry opponents worked wonderfully together for their well-deserved victory.
Keron Boyce of St John’s College scored nine points and snatched 10 boards while his teammate, Keith Tate, managed six points to accompany his six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Travis Burnett led Central High School to a 40-21 points victory over Charlestown Secondary with a 20-point, five rebounds, four assists and four steals performance.
Central led 27-4 at the half, and then relaxed in the second half and allowed their opponents to put some more numbers on their side of the scoreboard.
Business School narrowly won the overtime matchup against The International Business College 15-13.
Both teams struggled to score but as time wound down they played with a new found sense of urgency and the more athletic Business School side was able to gain the edge in overtime.
Queen’s College remains undefeated after beating favourites Tuturial High School 56-59 last Saturday.
Although Queen’s won by just three points, they were always in control of the game and led by 20 points at one stage.
Tyrone Hamid of Tutorial single-handedly launched a last minute comeback and connected from behind the arch on many occasions but his heroics proved to be futile against the experience QC side.
Hamid recorded a game-high of 26 points, with 10 rebounds and five assists while team-mate Michael Thompson dropped 21 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and four steals.
Both the Guyana Trust College and North Georgetown Secondary gained walk over victories as President’s College and Gamaliel Academy failed to make appearances.
