The 5th Victory Valley Royals (VVR) inter-school basketball championship has finally come down to the finals with McKenzie High School (MHS) battling New Silver City Secondary School (NSSS) today.
Apart from lifting the prestigious title, the two schools will be seeking to make history in their own right since MHS, the defending champions, will be aiming to take the lien trophy for keeps after winning the tournament twice before (2006 and 2008) and NSSS will be seeking to be victorious for the first time.
The defending champs from 2008 to date have stamped their authority on the sport in the mining town winning all the tournaments that they have played in so far.
But NSSS on the other hand is no pushover and they have always been finishing in the top bracket in the tournament since its inception in 2005.
This will not be the first time that the two schools are meeting in the finals as they clashed in 2006, the same year that MHS won the event for the first time.
The Wismar-based school also turned in a good performance in the 2007 championships but their efforts were foiled in the finals against the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) who came from behind to snatch victory out of their hands.
However, NSSS coach Colin Barker said that things will be a bit different this time around. The two sides last met in the first round of the tournament and MHS came out on top 45-40.
Akeem Kanhai who is considered to be the best junior basketball player in Guyana at present is the rock of the MHS team and he shows this in every game since he holds an average of over 20 points per game in the tournament and stopping him Barker said will be their main focus today.
This will be their strategy, he explained, because MHS feeds through Kanhai and once they can at least try to slow him down, it will make the game much easier for them and also since they narrowly lost to MHS recently, his players will know exactly how to apply themselves.
Barker said also that he expects his two primary players, Yanik Primo and Marlon Pollydore, to be the leading force for his team.
Efforts by Stabroek Sport to contact MHS coach, Quincy Cummings for a comment proved futile but in a pre-tournament interview he had said that his team was going to retain their title and they would do so with ease.
In the meantime they have not lost a game in the championship and are the only team with that record.
Cummings had said that apart from Kanhai, there are other players who can step up big as well and so far Sheldron Noel has been that person. The wingman has touched double digits in every game so far in the tournament and has a well rounded game, playing well at both ends of the floor.
Kanhai stole all the accolades for last year’s tournament and with his current pace he is almost certain of a repeat if MHS wins.
However with the battle brewing off the court between the two schools leading up to today’s final, it will be a wait and see game to choose a winner or make any predictions.
Apart from the championship trophy and individual prizes up for grabs, the winning team will be receiving special ‘championship T-shirts’, compliments of Guymine.com and Muzik Media.
The organizers said also that they will be naming an all tournament first and second team and an all defensive and offensive team.
