By Kiev Chesney
The Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s (GABA) Bryden’s second-division league continued to heat up last Saturday night as the Pepsi Sonics thrashed Eagles 70-34 to remain unbeaten.
Pepsi Sonics maintained their flawless 4-0 record through wins over Bounty Colts, the Junior Elite, Demerara Panther and latest victim, Eagles, last weekend.
Casey Hollingsworth, who had been debarred from competing in the second but had been offered a respite after the decision was overturned, geared up for the Sonics and was the top scorer with 12 points.
Hollingsworth received assistance from perimeter players Ryan Melville and Jason Squires who each scored 12 points.
As Coach Mark Agard had informed Stabroek Sport earlier, the team’s plan was to use their superior fitness and run other teams out of the game early with their press defence.
Though the Eagles team trailed by six (8-14) after the first eight minutes, Pepsi Sonics managed to expand the lead by forcing several turnovers through good defensive play and making Eagles pay dearly by converting the turnovers into points.
In the second game of the evening, the Maccabees enjoyed victory 50-39 over Beepat Scorpions.
The defeat helped to further reduce the morale of the Scorpions who were bitten by the Kings in Linden last weekend.
The superior ball movement and unselfish play of the Maccabees players helped break down the Scorpions defence early, while the Maccabees led a well-spaced and coordinated offence that seemed able to score at will.
Hodayah Stewart led his team’s scoring with 10 points while four other players, Kester Gomes, Yannick `D’ Wade, Devon Cameron and K’ananiel Stewart followed with six points each.
Sheldon Braithwaite, who scored 10 points, was to only Scorpion player the reach double figures.
In the final game of the evening the Junior Elite team launched a full-fledged attack on the Demerara Panthers to score a 74-33 blowout.
The youthful legs of the Junior Elite team stifled the Panthers (who were missing some of their key players) early and on occasions turned defensive stops into fast-break points.The Panthers could not successfully run their offensive systems, and took just over 11 minutes to score their first basketball while the Junior Elite had already held a 12-point lead.
The Junior Elite team continued to play zone defence which helped them to hold a 28-point advantage at halftime while coach of the Elite team, Julian Haynes, was giving more exposure to his bench players trying them out at different positions on the court. The Elite players were determined to continue what they started and centre Jermaine Slater, who finished with 20 points, dunked in the face of one of the Panthers’ defenders to make their intentions known early in the second half. Marlon Chesney finished with 20 points as he completed an all-round game, scoring tough lay-ups in the paint and draining three pointers from the top of the key when unguarded.
Travis Burnet and Delon Davidson also contributed to the Elite’s winning cause with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Yannick December led the Panthers with 13 points while George Easton assisted with 10 points.
