By Floyd Christie
In what could be dubbed a night of comebacks and mixed fortunes, Albouystown/Charlestown came from behind and pulled off an 80-66 win in overtime against Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust as the Mackeson National Super Ward Basketball Championships continued on Thursday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
This match followed an exciting game which saw East Coast secure their first win of the tournament over New Amsterdam by a 72-62 margin. This defeat was New Amsterdam’s second in the competition.
Albouystown/Charlestown and Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust went head-to-head in the highly anticipated match-up and it was clear from the beginning that it would live up to the pre-game hype. Fans were out of their seats from jump-ball when Vivian Alder converted a rebound into a thunderous two- handed slam over the Albouystown/Charlestown defenders.
Alder’s presence on the paint kept the Albouystown/ Charlestown forwards at bay, but the Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust guards could not stop Junior National Captain Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai who pushed his team to a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Kanhai kept hitting shots from beyond the arc; from the top of the key and on the baseline as he built his way to 20 points.
Albouystown/Charlestown briefly widened their lead at the beginning of the second quarter, but their opponents were playing like a well-oiled machine and their rate of scoring was exceeded by some high percentage shots taken by the Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust forwards. The Wortmanville/ Werk-en-Rust forwards executed the first comeback of the evening when they went into half-time trailing by just one point.
The second half began with the score at 31-30 and the Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust assault continued. Their fast-paced high-scoring offence was equally matched by stringent defence which smothered Albouystown/ Charlestown’s possessions and forced turnovers.
Tension was visibly high in the Albouystown/Charlestown camp as they were only permitted nine points in the third quarter, while Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust stacked 20 and ended the quarter with a 10-point lead; the scores were 50-40.
The final quarter began and so did the second comeback of the night. With the clock ticking, it seemed that Albouystown/ Charlestown had exhausted all their options for cutting the 10-point deficit. The teams traded baskets for the first five minutes.
However, the Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust firepower was not enough to sustain their 60-52 lead in the latter half of the fourth and as their frustration increased so did their fouls in the final five minutes.
Albouystown/Charlestown took advantage of each free-throw they were awarded as guard Kevin ‘Two Feet’ Joseph netted four free-throws in a row with pinpoint accuracy. This was immediately followed by two more from Ronwell Fortune as he added to his 21-point top score.
As Wortmanville/Werk-en-rust continued to slump, they allowed their opponents some fast breaks and the scores were tied 62-62 at the end of regulation time.
Going into overtime the fans were on their feet and the Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust benchers were encouraging their front men on the court. However, more enthusiasm was shown from the bench than by the active players. Albouystown/Charlestown took advantage of this, and, backed by their leading inside player Dwayne `Brown Sugar` Roberts, who snatched 10 rebounds and contributed 14 points in his double-double, blew out their opponents by 14 points in overtime.
Travis Burnette and Neilon Loncke led Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust’s scoring with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Earlier in the evening, New Amsterdam almost secured their first win of the championships against East Coast as they chipped away at East Coast’s 18-point lead at the end of the first half which ended 39-21. Their efforts were eventually futile as they fell short by 10 points at the end of the final half.
Quacie Newton delivered another high scoring performance with 20 points, while Stephon Gillis and Curtley English assisted with 13 points each.
New Amsterdam’s scoring was led by Shem Scotland, who scored 19 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Randy Caesar contributed 17, while Randy Richardson played well in the paint for his nine points and 13 rebounds.
