The reigning Division Three league champions, Beepat Scorpions will tip off the Division Three finals of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Pepsi Street Playoff Series against the second-seed Ravens tonight at the Burnham basketball court.
Scorpions and Ravens each ended the GABA league with a record of Sevens wins and one loss, but the Scorpions were declared the winner of the league as they defeated the Ravens during the league’s continuation at the Burnham Court.
The two leading Division Three teams will be led by two of the pre-eminent Third Division scorers, Tyrone Hamid and Shelroy Thomas.
Thomas, who piloted the scoring of his Third Division team and was also among the top scorers having been drafted to the team’s Open Division and Hamid have forked up big numbers on the score sheet in his team’s recent games.
Backed by a team that is determined to capture an early win in the best of three finals, tonight’s showdown is expected to be keenly contested from jump ball.
Scorpions’ head coach Vijay Panday expressed confidence in his team yesterday when contacted by Stabroek Sports.
Panday stated that his team “is not over confident” but will be going up against Ravens with the intention to win the series.
Panday explained that his team has been sticking to their practice routine in preparation for the Third Division’s final showdown with the Ravens, but since some of the players on his Division Three side will also be playing in the Open Division third place playoffs, they did not practice last night.
“The Division Three players will be resting today [last night] ahead of the finals”, but nevertheless the team is “going into the game with confidence and not going to lose” Panday stated.
Panday added that even though his team defeated the Ravens during the GABA league “they still have a point to prove”.
“We [Scorpions] have to prove that our first victory against them [Ravens] was no fluke” Panday added.
With his guards, Thomas and Sheldon Frank controlling the ball at the top of the paint, Panday asserted that the team is going to emerge the winners of the Pepsi Series.
“I know we are going to win… Though we are the underdogs in the tournament I am satisfied with how the players are performing and I know they will be playing to win” Panday said.
Also speaking to this newspaper yesterday was Ravens’ Division Three coach and the club’s First Division player, Darcel Harris.
Harris was reluctant to provide details on his team’s game plan for tonight’s final but revealed that though the team was outdone by the Scorpions during the league “they are always confident”.
Ravens’ defence has always been their strong-point and Harris explained that the team will continue to display aggression on the defensive end.
“I am not 100 percent satisfied with the team’s performance, because due to work commitments the team has not had the entire team participating in practice sessions”, Harris stated.
However the Ravens Division Three coach was confident that his team will compete at their best and he is confident that they’ll come out victorious.
The teams are scheduled to contest the feature matchup in tonight’s series of games, which will see two exhibition games prior to the final.
