The association’s organising secretary Ashton Angel Jr. said that the competition should have started two weeks ago, but they had to wait until a blown light at the MSC hard court was fixed.
Eight teams will contest the tournament and would be divided into two groups. Group A will have Kings, Raiders, Jets and Ballers and Group B will have Pistons, Royals, Bulls and Block 22.
The top two teams from each group will go on to play in the semi-finals.
And regarding the schedule of the games, the LABA rganising secretary noted that “as it relates to the start of the games, we would be starting at 6 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 5 pm on Sundays because most of the players are still going to school and we don’t want them out too late.”
Tonight’s games would see the Bulls taking on Block 22 Flamers from 6 pm and the Kashif and Shanghai Kings are down to face the Retrieve Raiders.
Both matches should be very entertaining with the opener seeing two teams who normally have a score to settle in the junior division of the sport in Linden.
The night’s feature match would see the Kings being led by flamboyant guard Sheldron Noel and upcoming dominant centre Jermain Johnson.
Both players are active in the club’s second division side as well as their under-23 unit. Noel who was a standout for his Mackenzie High School basketball team that has been sweeping almost every tournament since late 2008, is expected to be a key factor for the Kings against a hungry Raiders team.
However his usual teammate Deval Wilson this time would be at the other end of the floor when the guard dons the Raiders’ uniform to begin their championship journey on a high note.
Dwight McKinnon and Jeffrey La Rose are said to be among some of the better young players in Linden and they too will join forces with Wilson to lead the charge of the Raiders.
Meanwhile the competition is scheduled to continue tomorrow with another double header when junior national captain Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai and the Amelia’s Jets take on their hometown rival, Ballers and Wismar Pistons come up against Marlon Pollydore and the Victory Valley Royals.
On Sunday, from 5 pm the Raiders would be in action once again against the Ballers in game one and then Bulls and Royals will go head-to-head.
