Pacesetters ‘A’ were crowned the inaugural champions of the Mackeson smooth moves 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall tarmac.
Playing three games in one night, the Georgetown-affiliated team downed King Street Ballers 11-6 at the final whistle to walk away with the $1,000,000 prize money.
Being dominant in their quarterfinal round against Victory Valley Royals, who had one loss in the tournament thus far, Pacesetters `A’ played tight defence to finish the game 8-6.
Stephon Gillis then turned the hero for Pacesetters in the semifinal as they were down four points with two minutes left in the game. Penetration by national player Travis Burnett allowed Gillis to get off three consecutive shots from beyond the three-point line which counts as two to lead Pacesetters ‘A’ to a 15-11 victory over Above the Rim.
Burnett then turned up his game in the finals playing solid perimeter defence to disrupt the offence of King Street Ballers (KSB) as he created shots for his teammates in the final that saw them eventually winning the event at the sound of the final whistle.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport after the game, captain of the Pacesetters team, Burnett explained what is was for his team to win the finals.
“It feels real great to be the first winners of this historical event and we want to win more… we’re taking the money with no plans for it right now,” Burnett told Stabroek Sport.
Meanwhile, Above the Rim held off a surging Jets team from Linden to capture the third spot in the tournament.
Results:- Quarter finals- Pacesetters ‘A’ 8 def. Victory Valley Royals 6, Jets 12 def. Pitbulls 9, Above the Rim 18 def. Full Clip 13, King Street Ballers 12 def. Unknowns 11.
Semifinals- Pacesetters ‘A’ 15 def. Above the Rim 11, King Street Ballers 6 def. Jets 5.
Final- Pacesetters ‘A’ 11 def. King Street Ballers 6.
