The Victory Valley Royals and Amelia’s Ward Ballers are the latest teams to record victories in the Pioneer Construction-sponsored Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) Senior Club Championship when action in the competition continued last weekend at the McKenzie Sports Club Hard Court in Linden. It was a tough night for the Jets who have slumped to their second defeat so far in the tournament after going down against Dwayne “Brown Sugar” Roberts and his Victory Valley Royals team 72-67, who exacted revenge for their first round defeat which they had suffered at the hands of the Jets.
From the onset it was evident that Roberts meant business as he took early control of the court using his bullish style of play to get his way around his opponents. With the Jets having no answer for Roberts, the Royals made sure that most of their plays went through their center who was enjoying a good night on the court. The Jets on the other hand were just not flowing offensively as they are accustomed to throughout the competition, with their leading scorers Kevin Joseph, Neil Simon and Akeem Kanhai all struggling to find the bottom of the net. At half time, the scoreboard the Royals having a comfortable 20-point lead, (48-28). The Jets came out looking more purposeful in the second half, showing much more resilience but then Roberts was still on fire. However things took a turn with just under two minutes remaining in the game as the Jets fought their way back through Kanhai, Joseph and Simon but too late was their cry as the Royals held on for the win. “Brown Sugar” Roberts finished the game with 26 points while Troy Jeffery shot 14 points for the Royals. For the Jets, Neil Simon had 14, while Kanhai and Joseph both had 12 points. Meanwhile Amelia’s Ward Ballers chalked up another victory beating Alleyene’s Retrieve Raiders 59-42. Coached by the vivacious Floyd Martindale, the Ballers played well throughout the game displaying an all-round game which saw them leading 26-23 at the end of the first half. Donald Benjamin led the Ballers with a game high 18 points while Erol Reduck had ten points. Devon Gettins who had a good game for the losers finished with 14 points while Omar Sam had 11. Meanwhile with all the participating teams in the competition being involved in the upcoming Next Level Entertainment (NLE) basketball tournament, the LABA said that they will have to await the fixtures of the tournament to know how to reschedule their games.
