The ball got rolling on day one of the Youth Basketball Guyana Challenge Series yesterday afternoon at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with a series of one sided matchups when some of Guyana’s best high school teams took centre court.
Plaisance claimed the most defining of the blowout victories of the three day tournament when they trounced Saint Stanislaus College 66-30 in a highly-anticipated rematch between the two teams.
Saints, winners of the recent St. Stanislaus-organised Mashramani basketball competition, claimed a walkover victory over Plaisance in the semifinal in the same tournament after the Plaisance players arrived late for the game. However, the Plaisance players were on time yesterday and made no mistake in avenging their walkover defeat.
It was apparent even before half-time that Saints did not stand a chance against the Plaisance squad, who took control of the game with a 24-0 run from tip-off.
Nearing the end of the first half, Saints finally got on the scoreboard and added seven points before the end of the half, while Plaisance closed the half with 34.
The second half was much more productive for Saints as they matched Plaisance’s scoring but the game was too far out of reach for them to seriously challenge their opponents.
Nikkoloi Smith and Nicholas Cassius were the main contributors for Plaisance with 19 and 15 points respectively, while Darrell Williams amassed 19 for Saints.
Fans in attendance witnessed another blowout later in the day when School of the Nations defeated Guyana Trust College (GTC) 55-31 with Dino Chow-Wee-Nam leading Nations with 14 points.
Jonathan Pooran and Noel Dominique were also significant contributors for Nations while GTC’s Dominique Vincente single handedly took his team to a respectable total with his game-high 25 points.
In contrast, in another game, newcomers to competitive schools basketball, Glory Lights Secondary (GLS) held the seasoned Charlestown team close, suffering a marginal 36-38 defeat.
Playing without any substitutes as they entered the game with a five-man squad, GLS did well to be competitive against Charlestown and literally had the game in their hands until the final seven seconds of the game when they foiled two critical free throws and a put back attempt.
In the under-16 games contested yesterday, Saints trashed Plaisance 27-12 after holding them scoreless in the first half of the game, Queen’s College trounced St. Rose’s Secondary 25-13 and Cummings Lodge Secondary easily defeated Marian Academy 27-15 in the day’s opening game.
