– forces final game against Charlestown/Albouystown
“We just had to get our house in order,” were the words of defending champions North Ruimveldt’s point guard and captain Darcel Harris after his side had inflicted a 19-point whipping (75-56) on Charlestown/ Albouystown to force a third and final game in the HJTV Inter-Ward tournament.
An almost packed Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Saturday evening witnessed the defending champions doing exactly what they said would, which was to play as a team and not depend too much on the exploits of key player, Andrew ‘Mr. Dunk’ Ifill.
Unlike the previous game where they were thoroughly outplayed, the North team rotated its bench well with Harris taking a back seat and acting more as a coach which allowed point guard Ryan Stephaney to take control of the game and the front court.
“In the last game some of the players complained that I was on the court too much and couldn’t see the game as they did, so we went back to the drawing board and I decided that I would step back a bit and run things from the sideline,” Harris mentioned in a post-game comment to Stabroek Sports.
At half time, North led 31-22.
Alwyn Bellamy, Rodwel Fortune and Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts were way off from the field for Charlestown/Albouystown.
Nothing was dropping for Roberts while North did their home work on Fortune and stopped him from penetrating which forced the diminutive player to take shots from beyond the three-point mark.
As the game progressed, Ifill and Stephaney became thorns in sides of the Charlestown players.
The two would combine to help North Ruimveldt outscore their opponents 24-11 in the third quarter, which ended with them leading 55-33.
Nothing changed for Charlestown/Albouystown and by mid way in the final period spectators began to exit the venue.
Ifill had a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds while Stephney netted 14 points.
Trevor Mc Leod was the only player from Charlestown/Albouystown to finish in double digits. He scored 12 points. Roberts shot two of 10 from the field, scored five of eight from the free throw line and picked up four rebounds.
Fortune picked up seven rebounds and scored six points.
Game three will be contested on Thursday.
