Cummings Lodge Secondary School wrapped up two victories last weekend to become the only team to finish the inaugural Guyana Secondary Schools Basketball Association’s (GSSBA) regular season with an outstanding 15-0 record.
Cummings Lodge added the finishing touches to their perfect season by defeating St. Stanislaus 59-38 on Friday and East Ruimveldt 76-56 on Sunday.
In Friday’s game St. Stanislaus tried to make a late push to turn around their losing record, but had not realized the depth of the Cummings Lodge squad.
Saints however managed to tie the game 26-26 at halftime as Don Johnson and Jamal Scott were now beginning to find themselves in the St. Stanislaus backcourt and got points from good ball movement early.
In the second half, C/Lodge could not be contained and outscored Saints 23-12, as Colwin Nurse led the way with 19 points. Keon Hayles also added 16 points and four rebounds for C/lodge who got much productivity for their bench in the first half.
In the second game C/Lodge came up against East Ruimveldt and the offensively talented Leon Prince who had led his team in scoring in every game throughout the regular season.
Prince had a 24-point game in the end which proved to be futile against Cummings Lodge as they possessed more than one offensive weapon.
East managed to trail 32-29 at half time but Travis Williams of C/Lodge who is usually known for his superior passing ability caught fire and registered his season high of 20 points to calm down East Ruimveldt.
Bevon Spooner and Keon Hayles registered 24 and 14 points respectively for the victors while Cassius Nicholas added 12 points for East Ruimveldt.
After the game, Williams told Stabroek Sport that the unselfishness and the team chemistry of C/Lodge were the reasons for their success so far.
“The thing about our team that makes us unstoppable is that we are not fascinated about scoring, we just play together all the time and that is what gives us the edge,” he said.
Williams also mentioned that their toughest encounters were against Tutorial High, Central High and Queen’s College.
In the other Sunday games Kadeem Jacobs and Rudolph Daly scored 16 points apiece to lead St. Roses past School of the Nations 44-37, while Travis Burnett scored 20 points to give his team the 41-38 edge against St. John’s College.
Dwayne Jacobs also added 15 points for Central while Keith Tute was limited to just 10 points for St. John’s.
Burnett also top scored with 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals to lead Central past St Roses 33-24.
The Charlestown male team gained a walkover from North Georgetown, while the Charlestown female team gained a walkover from the Tutorial High females.
Last Friday, Bishops’ High School, guided by Seon Lashley and his 29 points and five rebounds eased to a 60-23 victory over School of the Nations.
Bishops’ also defeated Brickdam 56-50 in their last minute push to get into the final four teams in their zone, advancing to the playoffs.
Clive Wilson top scored with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Yannick Dundas added a rounded performance of 13 points, seven rebounds and steals.
Rodrick Grant added 13 points while his teammate Jonathon Wright registered 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Michael Thompson led Tutorial to a 67-41 victory over East Ruimveldt when he registered a double-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds. Keith Tute also scored 27 points to go with eight assists to help St. John’s overpower Saints 71-31.
The GSSBA will be announcing its all-star players from Georgetown and Linden to go against each other during their All-Star weekend which is scheduled to take place before the playoffs begin.
