The semi-finalists for the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) ‘Road to Mecca II’ National Club Championship will be decided tonight when the quarterfinal round begins at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue.
The opening affair at 16:30hrs will be an all-Georgetown showdown when number three ranked Colts lock horns with the number six seed Pepsi Sonics.
Crushing Bankers Trust Falcons 98-68 in their opening fixture, Colts will aim to secure their second consecutive semi-final berth as they look to the trio of Shelroy Thomas, Dave Causway and Shane Webster to pilot them to victory.
However Pepsi Sonics will be in a confident mood following their 77-60 victory over Half Mile Bulls and will fancy their chances of clinching a semi-final spot led by the duo of Jason Squires and Trevor Smith.
The second engagement will be a derby showdown featuring Linden sides as number two seed Retrieve Raiders will face off with the Kashif and Shanghai Kings from 18:30hrs.
Defending champs and number one ranked side Dynas Ravens will then take centre court at 20:30hrs when they oppose Linden unit and number eighth ranked Victory Valley Royals.
Possessing a star-studded roster featuring Ryan Stephney, Jermaine Slater, Ryan Gullen, Rodwell Fortune and Akeem Kanhai, Ravens will attempt to maintain their dominant displays following their 81-57 win over Smithfield Rockers as they strive for a successful defence.
Nevertheless, the battle tested Royals will be no pushovers following their 73-61 victory over Republic Bank Nets and will hope the likes of Harold Adams, Chris Williams, Ron Beckles, Lawrence DaCosta and Marlon Pollydore can inspire them to a semi-final berth.
The final match of the evening will then witness number five ranked unit Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters locking horns with 13th seed Plaisance Guardians from 22:30hrs.
Strolling their way to the final eight section after crushing Wismar Pistons 72-36, Pacesetters will aim to progress one step further in the tourney and will look to the quartet of Travis Burnett, Randy Richardson, Shawn Gillis and Royston Siland to lead them to victory.
While they might not possess the quality of their adversaries, Plaisance Guardians will be up for the impending challenge following their hard-fought win over Amelia’s Ward Jets by a 66-56 scoreline in their earlier fixture.
With the services of Nikkoloi Smith, Trenton Woolford and Ron Campbell at their disposal, the East Coast of Demerara outfit will be capable of a positive outcome come jump ball.
The winner of the tourney will pocket $400,000 and the championship trophy while second, third and fourth place finishers will receive $200,000, $150,000 and $75,000 correspondingly.
The tourney will also be used as part of the selection process for the upcoming international series against Bermuda slated to be hosted in the month of March.
