Fyrish Black Sharks secured their semi-final berth in the inaugural NPG Packaging first division competition squeaking past Smythfield Rockers by a 63-62 score line on Sunday at the Fyrish Basketball Court.
The duo of Keenan Williams and Linden Joseph were the top scorers for the home side with 14 points each. Contributing towards the win with 10 and eighth points were Joel Fraser and Royel Franklin.
On the losing end Sherman Braithwaite registered a game-high 17 points while the next best scorer in the fixture with 16 points was Tyron Dey. Chipping in with eight points for the visitors was Shemroy McKenzie.
The first period of the fixture saw the visitors taking a five-point lead as the opening quarter ended 16-11. Despite outscoring their Rockers by a 14-12 margin, the home side would go into the half time interval trailing as the second period ended with the score locked at 28-25.
The scoring momentum would remain with the Sharks in the third stanza as they outscored Rockers 25-20 to take the lead going into the final period at 50-48. The hosts would then seal the come from behind win in the final period as they held Rockers to only 14 points while scoring 13 in the process.
The tourney will continue tomorrow at the Ithaca Court. New Amsterdam Warriors will faceoff with hosts Ithaca from 16:00hrs. The Berbice Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) sanctioned tournament features a total of seven teams from both the East and West Berbice area.
The other competing teams are divided into two groups. Group-A features Rose Hall Town Jammers, Hopetown Steelers and Canje Knights while group-B consists of New Amsterdam Warriors, Smithfield Rockers, Fyrish Black Sharks and Ithaca Hard-Liners. The other playing area is the Port Mourant Training School court.
Winner of the tournament will walk-away with the championship trophy and a financial incentive while the runner-up will pocket the respective accolade and a financial incentive. Similarly incentives will also be awarded to individual players.
