By Rawle Toney
An epic battle tonight between Linden and Georgetown senior players will conclude the staging of the sixth annual Supligen All-Star Weekend at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and it is expected to be a night splashed with artistry, showcasing colourful dunks, scintillating crossovers and commanding ‘and-one’ points.
The last time the two sides met in the event, Linden came out victorious whipping their Georgetown counterparts 63-40 in what was then a lopsided affair with the Linden All-Stars literally outplaying the city team at both ends of the floor.
The big question now is, will Linden be able to repeat last year’s performance or would Georgetown pull out all the stops?
According to one player, “as long as I’m here, there’s no way Georgetown can win. That player is none other than Steven ‘Lighter’ Lewis who hails from Trinidad and Tobago.
Lewis is certainly no stranger to the court at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. In fact, he first came to Guyana for the 2006 event where he competed in the slam dunk contest placing second to Kester Gomes, although many felt that he had won. The same year he returned with the Trinidad and Tobago national team to compete against the DC Jammers and Guyana. His team came out victorious with Lewis receiving the MVP of the tournament award.
But it was in 2007 that he left a permanent mark on the sport.
‘Lighter’ as he is more popularly known, made a clean sweep of most of the top prizes at the event. His demolition started with the slam dunk contest which he easily won.
But it was in the senior all-star game that he showed why he’s unarguably the best player in Trinidad and Tobago.
With his tenacious defence and outstanding offence, Lewis was named the MVP of the game where he accumulated 12 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. When asked by Stabroek Sport if he would be replicating last year’s outstanding performance, Lewis said…. “I’m here to play my type of basketball which speaks for itself. Last year I played with some very good players and I’m happy that I will be playing with them once again. We meshed well and I will be bringing my “A” game. I’m just asking the public to come out and support the event.”
Based on his answer the game will certainly be one that you don’t want to miss. But his fellow countryman Miguel Williams who is also making his third visit to Guyana is giving an entire different scenario of what will be the outcome of tonight’s match.
Williams told this newspaper that he and Lewis are normally rivals in Trinidad and they will be bringing that rivalry to the All-Star game tonight.
“The last time I was here, I wasn’t very happy since I had very little playing time and I wasn’t too happy with the coaching either but I spoke to the organizers and all assurance was given that this year things will be much different. I liked my team last year but we were just unfortunate, but I know for certain this year we will beat `Lighter’s’ team. I am also very grateful for Wildfire for bringing me back once again to be part of the All-Star weekend.”
Apart from Lewis and Williams, some of Guyana’s top ballers will be on show and based on reports by both sides, an uphill battle is expected. At a recent press conference held by the organizers, both presidents of the Linden and Georgetown basketball associations had stated that their players are more than ready to do battle tonight. They also stated that even though basketball isn’t being played right now, their players were still active and as such fans can come out to expect quality basketball.
Linden team: Steven Lewis, Marvin Hartman, Jason Alonso, Omally Sampson, Quincy Jones, Nevin Grenville and Trevor Proffit, Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts, Anson Durant, Terrence James, Kurleigh Austin (Raphael Damon is the coach).
Georgetown team: Miguel Williams, Stephon Gillis, Royston Siland, Naylon Loncke, Ryan Gullen, Ryan Stepheny, Darcell Harris, Pelhom Doris, Travis Foster along with Fabian Johnson and Vivian Alder. (Lugard Mohan is the coach)
The junior slam dunk and three-point contests will start the night off from 7:00 pm. Meanwhile, for the entertainment of patrons, Barbados soca artiste Biggie Ire and Peter Ram will be performing at half time.
Last evening the all-star weekend opened with the senior slam dunk and three- point contest and Junior Linden versus Georgetown game.
