Cummings Lodge Second-ary School’s basketball team laid a strong claim to being one of the better schools basketball teams in the Guyana Secondary School Basketball Association’s (GSSBA) league with two wins over two of the stronger teams in the competition at the outdoor Burnham, Court on Middle Street.
Coming into the second week of the of this phase of the season with a flawless record of 7-0, Cummings Lodge stepped onto the court and came away with wins over Queen’s College 45-36 and St John’s College 36-22.
On Friday afternoon their exceptional ball movement on offense took apart a fragmented Queen’s College side who were utilizing the man-to-man press system.
And, the zone defense employed by Cummings Lodge forced the Queens’ College guards to take many perimeter shots at a very low percentage.
Colwin Hayles, the beneficiary of the majority of the passes delivered by his teammates finished with a game-high 18 points for Cummings Lodge while Keon Hayles chipped in with 16 points and six rebounds.
The team’s second victory came against a streaky St Johns’ College squad, who, like Queen’s’ College, fell apart in the first half of the game.
Against St John’s College, however, Cummings Lodge started slowly on offense until their tenacious zone defense gave them a well-needed boost.
Hayles ended the game with 10 points and four rebounds while Bevon Spooner registered a game-high 14 points to go with six rebounds.
Queen’s College recovered from their defeat against Cummings Lodge (9-0) to secure a come-from-behind win over a stunned Bishops’ High School winning 27-26.
The selfish play and poor shot selection of the day before disappeared and a cooperative unit of five players fought relentlessly to secure the win despite the absence of star point guard Biniam Norton.
Lyndon Kellman scored six clutch points including an electrifying finger roll which put his team up by two points with under five minutes remaining.
Ryburn Weaver stifled the Bishops’ guards limiting them to six points collectively, while Kiev Chesney showed his versatility, playing every position on the court and ending with 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Clive Wilson ended with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Bishops’ High.
Bishops’ High had defeated St. Roses’ High School 29-17 on Friday afternoon. The Bishops’ High players were in control from the get go and even when they were hauled off the court by a senior teacher, they led 16-8.
The determined Bishops’ High players returned about 30 minutes later to complete the whipping of St Roses’ High.
The match between St. Stanislaus College and Central High School had to be rescheduled since players living on the East Coast Demerara stayed home in the aftermath of the massacre at Lusignan while St. Stanislaus also gained a walkover from St. Marys Secondary.
