Colts overcame Pepsi Sonics by a 72-66 margin in an Open Division fixture when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) ‘King of the Hard Court’ Championship continued on Saturday at the Burnham Court.
National guard Shelroy Thomas top scored in the win with 20 points while fellow international Shane Webster and Rayon Cummings supported with 15 and 14 points respectively. Chipping in with eight points was captain Dave Causway. Netting a game high 22 points in the loss was Trevor Smith. He was supported by Kurt Elias, Jason Squires and Kerwin Jackson who scored 14, 10 and eighth points respectively. The opening period saw the home side racing off to the early advantage as they outshot Sonics 23-13 Webster top scored in the period with eight points from within the paint. Cummings was the next best scorer with seven points in the period inclusive of a three pointer at 6:09. On the other side, Squires and Kevin Cumberbatch scored three points each.
While the opening period was all about the home side, the second stanza was dictated by the visitors who netted 19 points while reducing their opponents to nine to go into the half time interval tied at 32-32.
It was the Smith show as he netted 13 points in the salvo. Two layups opened his account while three daggers from beyond the arc with 6:32, 3:15 and 59 seconds on the clock capped off his solo showing.
For Colts, Webster was the principal scorer with four points from two free throws and a layup while Thomas nailed a three pointer with three seconds remaining to draw the fixture level going into halftime.
The home side would then wrestle away the momentum upon the resumption of play, outscoring Sonics 17-14 to go into the final stanza leading 49-46.Causway and Thomas shouldered the scoring with five and four points apiece while Cummings netted three.
Netting four points each in the low scoring quarter for Sonics was Elias and Squires. The home side would then clinch the matchup in the final period as they outscored Sonics by a 23-20 score line. Thomas made his presence felt in the period, netting 10 points littered with two three pointers at 7:19 and 2:01. Similarly having a pivotal impact was substitute Lennox Thornhill who netted five free throws in the final minutes and Cummings who scored four points.
Equally having an impressive scoring period was Elias who battled his way to 10 points inclusive of a three point play at 8:11, three layups and a free throw. Supporting with five points inclusive of a three pointer was Smith.
Also surviving a shock defeat was Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters who squeaked past Knights by a 73-67 score line. Stephon Gillis top scored with 20 points in the win while Joslyn Crawford and Keith Tute supported with 15 and 13 points respectively. Top scoring for the losers was Owan Walton who netted 18 points. He was supported by Andrew Mendes and Randy Aaron who chipped in with 11 points correspondingly. In the opening u-23 matchup, Ravens defeated Melanie Patriots via walkover. Action in the tourney is slated to continue at the same venue on Friday 15th with three slated fixtures. In the opening matchup at 18:00hrs, Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters will faceoff with the University of Guyana Trojans in an u-23 matchup. The second fixture of the night will pit the University of Guyana against Melanie Patriots in an Open Divisional matchup at 20:00hrs while the final matchup of the card will witness Knights tackling Eagles from 22:00hrs in an Open Division showdown.
