• Indiscipline, sponsorship, poor officiating problems mar tournament
  • By Edison Jefford - Wednesday, January 31st 2007
     President of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Chris Bowman said that the recently-concluded GABA super league tournament was handicapped by the growing level of indiscipline in the sport, lack of sponsorship and poor officiating.
    Bowman in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport said that the level of indiscipline in local basketball was cause for concern. He said that the tournament failed to attract sponsorship because of the attitude of players.
    "One of the things that came out of the league is the growing level of indiscipline in the game. We dealt with every case that came to us, not to everybody's satisfaction but the lesson is that you are not going to be allowed to get away with that sort of behaviour," Bowman said.
    In one of the notable instances of indiscipline a fight broke out during a game between Pepsi Sonics and Ravens.
    The Georgetown association was forced to issue a four-game ban on key players from both teams.
    Bowman said that the tournament struggled to come off as it was originally planned. In many of the games there was an obvious decline in the spectator turnout. Sometimes the games merely attracted a maximum of 20 people.
    "What happened was that the association struggled to get the tournament off, we did not have any sponsor willing to come on board. I don't care what sport it is, once you don't have sponsorship you will struggle," he observed.
    Coupled with the players' indiscipline, Bowman indicated that the Georgetown clubs' failure to adhere to the association's new financial structure and the poor level of officiating were also factors that caused the GABA super league to struggle.
    According to the GABA president all the clubs received a quantity of tickets for sale but all came up short with the exception of Ravens and Bounty Colts. He said that the clubs would have benefited financially from the ticket sales.
    "We had a tremendous tournament but no resources to follow through. What made things worse was that the clubs did not follow through with the new programme. With the exception of Ravens and Bounty Colts all the other clubs fell well short."
    "We got a new financial structure that allowed clubs to be involved in ticket sales, which they could have benefited from in a real substantial way. We thought those things would have made clubs more financially viable," Bowman added.
    A "frightening" situation also arose where, according to Bowman, the GABA couldn't find three quality referees for an elite panel for the tournament. As a result games were blown improperly.
    "We tried to reform this aspect of the sport by putting together an elite panel that consists of the top three referees.
    The problem with this working was that they are simply not enough available referees who can blow a proper game," the GABA president said.
    The alternative for GABA was to go with the referees who are available since that is the only way the tournament could have been staged. "The few that we have, don't care how bad they are, if we want to have basketball played we have to go with them."
    Bowman made it clear that the idea of the super league was to change the conduct of players on the court, the state of officiating and the source of motivation from playing for money to playing for pride.
    He said that the initial concept of the tournament made the Georgetown association very excited. Other than the factors that marred the tournament, Bowman described the league as "great" and "highly competitive".
    "The super league tournament was great for us. It allowed us to engage all the clubs in a highly competitive basketball season. Because of that we can easily say who are the best clubs in George-town," Bowman asserted.
    The Georgetown Basketball Association president told Stabroek Sport that the super league will be an annual feature on the GABA calendar and hopefully by the next league this year-end, the association would have cleared the hurdles.

  • Pepsi Sonics basketball tourney underway:
    Disciples, Courts Pacesetters complete impressive wins
  • By Edison Jefford - Monday, January 29th 2007
    The Pepsi Sonics nation-wide invitational basketball tournament got underway Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with top teams Disciples and Courts Pacesetters 'B' completing impressive victories.
    A total of twelve games were set for the night in the first round of the two-day tournament with 10 minutes running time per half. Disciples eased past Demerara Panthers 31-19 while Pacesetters 'B' defeated Westsiders Nismes 27-15.
    Eagles 'B' edged Firehawks 24-22 while Scorpions 'A' crushed Hopetown Warriors 'B' 42-18.
    Hopetown 'A' then picked up the slack when they devastated the Devastators 41-26 whilst Ravens defeated Wales Vikings 23-13 in the first half of the tournament.
    Clippers clipped Nets 25-22; Pacesetters 'A' beat Bounty Colts 'B' 26-7; Pepsi Sonics Gold defeated Bounty Colts 'A' 35-28; Prospect Jammers edged Pepsi Sonics Blue 24-22; Eagles 'A' defeated Scorpions 'B' 22-21 and Panthers 'B' blew away Pepsi Sonics Twist 24-7 in the second half of the tournament Saturday night.
    The first game of the night placed the highly competitive Disciples team against the Panthers in a game that looked like it could go either way in the beginning.
    Seasoned point-guard, John Fraser, opened the Disciples' account with a right hand lay-up while Panthers' forward Ian Klien responded with a `put-back' basket.
    The Disciples' understanding of the concept of running time helped them rush the ball up-court looking for quick offense while putting pressure on the Panthers defense at the same time.
    Shooting guard Dave Causeway, along with Fraser, controlled the pace for the Disciples offense. The team took a 9-7 lead with four minutes to play in the first-half compliments of a three-point jumper from Causeway.
    At the end of the first-half, the Disciples were up 19-15. The Panthers speedy guard, George Eastman, kept the team in the game on offense with accurate assists and the occasional jump-shot.
    However, the team did little work on defense and was soon lagging behind 19-26 with less than three minutes left in the second-half.
    At this stage, the Panthers employed a full-court pressure defense but it was too late.
    The Disciples continued to outclass the Panthers in every department and were soon up 31-19 with seconds remaining on the clock.
    The Panthers 'A' team was the first casualty of the tournament.
    The other front-runner in the third-division tournament, Courts Pacesetters 'B' team made light work of Westsiders Nismes in the grossly defensive showdown. The first half barely yielded twelve points (9-3 in favor of Pacesetters) as both teams struggled to finish easy baskets.
    However, the tempo changed in the second-half as Nismes crept back into the game trailing by one point (11 -12) with seven minutes remaining. Nismes' Vanric Felix hit a huge three-point jumper that equalled the scores at 14.
    In the final five minutes of the game the Nismes team made at least one turnover on every possession. Pacesetters capitalised on the jittery and butter-fingered Nismes team to take a 25-15 lead. The game ended with the score on 27-15 in favor of the Pacesetter 'B' team.
    The tournament continued last night with twelve teams advancing to the next round. The semi-final and final were also scheduled to be played last night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    At stake is $35,000 for the winning team while second, third and fourth place teams will receive $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament will pocket $2,000.

  • Bagotstown and Barama to battle in East Bank basketball final
  • DEFENDING champions Bagotstown will battle Barama in the finals of the East Bank Basketball 2006 championships, set for February 4 from 14:00 h at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    The Bagotstown team despite having won the 2005 competition would have no easy task in the final, given that their only defeat so far was at the hands of Barama.
    In the semi-finals of the competition on Sunday at the Burnham hard-court Bagotstown, led by Kwesi Roberts, thrashed Prospect 47-30 while in the other semi-final Barama recorded a come-from-behind victory over Herstelling 34-30.
    Roberts, who plays club basketball for Courts Pacesetters, scored 26 points, while he made five steals and three rebounds. The defending champions dominated the board, with the inside players taking total control.
    Ravens small forward Randy Burgess scored six points and Darren Thomas from the Beepats’ Scorpions basketball club finished with 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and two points.
    For the losers, power forward Mark Richard scored 15 points and collected eight rebounds. In the other semi-final, Barama, had trailed Herstelling 9-19 at the half, but they played hard afterwards to record the four-point victory.
    Trevor Profitt led the attack with 14 points, six boards and one steal while Kenneth Charles scored eight points, six boards and one steal.
    For Herstelling Orel Webster scored 16 points, three rebounds and a steal while Clarence Blackman scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

  • Collison becomes next in line
  • Collison becomes next in line - Loss of Farmar was expected to leave UCLA vulnerable, but the team has found a new leader in the sophomore guard
    By Diane Pucin, Times Staff Writer - January 4, 2007
    Darren Collison was going to be UCLA's problem this season. It would impossible for the Bruins not to suffer a game deficit of hard-nosed leadership, crunch-time shooting, swift dribbling and a mean streak that made Jordan Farmar the face of UCLA last season.
    When Farmar chose the NBA over his junior season, the Bruins dropped from being a serious contender for the national title to another top-15 team.
    Now it's January. The Bruins are undefeated and ranked No. 1. Collison, who was rated the 98th-best high school player when he was at Etiwanda High, was considered too slight, too inconsistent with his dribble. He made purists cover their eyes when he launched his jump shot with the strange hitch in his motion.
    Now the sophomore has already been named the MVP of the Maui Invitational and has been Pacific 10 Conference player of the week.
    "That Collison," said Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt, "is the quickest guard in the country. He's fast and athletic but he's never in a hurry. He gets his team in the right position.
    "No doubt losing Farmar was a big loss. He opened things up for other players. Now they've got someone like Collison who is patient about scoring and a really quick, aggressive defender. If anything, you could say UCLA traded up a little and that's no knock on Farmar." Collison had 15 points and seven assists in UCLA's victory over Georgia Tech at the Maui Invitational.
    Collison is averaging 13.2 points and 6.4 assists a game. He has 84 assists, 32 steals and only 40 turnovers. Collison's poise has not gone unnoticed by other coaches.
    "I wouldn't have said this before," said an NBA scout who was at UCLA's 96-74 thrashing of Washington on Sunday, "but this kid can play at the next level soon." The scout preferred to remain anonymous because he also thought the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Collison might be best served spending a third season at UCLA growing stronger physically.
    But it isn't something Collison hasn't heard from others over the last two weeks. "I know that word is out there," Collison said Tuesday. "It's flattering to hear that stuff. I won't lie. I've made up my mind that it's just not something I will think about until after the season is over.
    "If you let that talk get out of hand it can be damaging to a team. You see that all the time and to me this team has to come first. That's all I've got time to think about."
    Collison's parents, Dennis and June (Griffith) Collison, are world-class athletes. Dennis, a 200-meter runner, represented Guyana in the Pan American Games and June ran the 400 meters for Guyana at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. They each have college degrees and professional jobs and sports was a means to one end — an education.
    They offered Darren a gentle push into running in some local races. "Darren scorched the competition," Dennis said.
    But a youth coach who was a stickler for rules said Darren had entered a local running program too late and would be confined to relays. Darren, then 7, knew then that he didn't want to run relays. "I was faster than everybody," Darren said. "Plus, I didn't like running all that much."
    What he liked was basketball, so Dennis built a cement block and a post with a net. June would hear the swish and thud of a basketball going through the net and hitting the cement late at night. Darren would be shooting in the dark.
    With education as the foundation of the family, the Collisons sent their son to a private school. It didn't have basketball, though, and when he got to middle school Darren begged to attend public school so he could have a team.
    "I told him yes," June said, "as long as he got Bs or better. The first time his grades went down, he'd be back at private school. He never went back." Collison thrived in school and sport. When he was a junior, the staff at San Diego State pursued Collison most seriously. Then Ben Howland got the UCLA job.
    Assistant coach Kerry Keating's father, Larry, who had been an athletic administrator in the east when the Collisons were running track at Adelphi University, went to see Darren play and told Howland to recruit him.
    "Honestly," Darren said, "I grew up in love with Arizona. If Lute Olson had ever offered, I'd have gone there. But they didn't. Me and my family like Coach Howland and Coach Keating so that's where I went." Dennis said he found Howland a straightforward man.
    "There were no fake promises," Dennis said. "He told us Darren would not start his freshman year but he could earn playing time. Coach said he'd play 19 or 20 minutes a game and that's what happened. It was the best thing for Darren. It was good for him to spend a season on the bench. Honestly, I was disappointed when Jordan left. I thought Darren would have done well spending a second year learning the game as a backup." But Dennis also said he was not surprised at how seamlessly Darren had moved from the bench to the court.
    "Darren would call after practice last year and say, 'Dad, coach says whoever practices best gets the start and I'm beating Jordan in practice.' I would just laugh and tell him maybe he's biased," Dennis said.
    After scoring a season-high 27 points against Washington, junior Arron Afflalo gave credit to Collison. "Darren had 12 assists," Afflalo said, "and I think they were all to me." Collison revels in Howland's intense practice sessions.
    "Ben is real competitive," Collison said. "He gets really loud and gets down and runs with us and gets physical with us. He understands that for us to be a better team that develops at practice. "Guys I know at other teams do all this running to get in shape. We get in shape by practicing hard. I'd rather do that. I love the way we practice."
    And Howland loves how Collison plays. Howland credits UCLA's successful defensive pressure partly to Collison's quick hands and feet. Forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute says that Collison can outrun any defense. "If you've watched practice for two years," Afflalo said, "then Darren isn't a surprise. " If you didn't watch practice, the games are the proof now.

  • EAST BANK BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - BAGOTSOWN AND BARAMA BOOK FINAL PLACES
  • by Joe Chapman - Jan. 16, 2007
    DEFENDING champions Bagotstown will challenge Prospect, while Barama will face Herstelling on Sunday in the semi-finals of the 2006 East Bank Basketball Championships at the Burnham hard-court in Georgetown.
    Bagotstown and Barama solidified their places in the competition with wins over Grove and McDoom respectively in the quarter-finals at the same venue on Sunday last.
    Bagotstown recorded a 49-33 point victory over Grove. The winning side's “big men” proved unstoppable in defence.
    Thomas who plays centre for the Beepats' Scorpions collected 13 rebounds and scored 10 points, Pacesetters shooting guard Kwesi Roberts added 11 points. For the losing side, Sherman Oxford finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals and Travis Foster with eight points and 10 boards.
    In the other game, Barama edged past McDoom 42-40. Missing from the game was point guard Rodwell Fortune. Trevor Profitt who plays club basketball for Wismar Pistons scored 17 points, while he grabbed seven rebounds and made two steals. Also in double figures for the winner side was Bryon Pearson who scored 13 points.
    For McDoom, youngster Travis Burnett led the charge, scoring a game high 21 points, while assisting with five rebounds and four steals. Adrian Adams was also in the scorer's book with eight points to go with his five rebounds

  • Donations from Haynes brothers would give basketball in city professional look: GABA president
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, January 16th 2007
    Basketball in Georgetown got a major boost from overseas-based Paul and Patrick Haynes when the ex-Pacesetters brothers donated several items to the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GA-BA) last week.
    The Haynes brothers operate the website: Twinkillas.com, which is a "US-based charity organization devoted to the development of quality basketball and increasing its fan base through fan participation."
    The organisation committed itself on the website to providing the GABA League Championship trophy, GABA League finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy and GABA League Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
    "As an important stakeholder and part of the development of the super league basketball, we want to assure you (the GABA) of our continued commitment towards yearly sponsorship," the website stated.
    The organisation came good on its commitment and the GABA is now in possession of the promised items. The trophies will be handed out this weekend when the curtain comes down on the GABA League tournament.
    "They (the Haynes brothers) are not only talking the talk but walking the walk and that is what basketball in Georgetown needs at this moment," President of GABA Chris Bowman told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
    A quantity of International Basketball Federation (FIBA) scorebooks, professional uniforms for referees, professional basketball clipboards for coaches, whistles for referees and coaches were also among the items donated to GABA.
    The association responsible for basketball in Georgetown also received six pairs of sneakers, a quantity of practice plans for all Georgetown clubs and 16 (10 male, 6 female) basketballs.
    "They are committed to the development of the sport in Georgetown," Bowman said, adding that Twinkillas.com will give Guyana's 2007 Inter-Guiana Games team a set of professional uniforms.
    According to GABA president, the organisation will be operating at the national and association levels. He said that the organisation was currently gearing to contribute basketballs to schools in Guyana. Twinkillas.com was a major sponsor of the 2006 annual inter-ward basketball tournament and had donated four sets of different uniforms to be used by the teams throughout the competition.
    Bowman said that the association was grateful for the assistance, as the items would be used to promote the sport in Georgetown. He indicated that the association was maintaining "talks with Twinkillas.com" on many different levels.
    "We are pleased to have these important items," the GABA president noted. "I have had discussion with the organisation on a number of different levels where we talked about further collaborative efforts."
    Bowman pointed out that the association's treasurer Merle Jordan had met with the organisation while in the US recently. The items donated are expected to give basketball in Georgetown a professional appearance.

  • GABA tournament nears climax
  • Friday, January 12th 2007
    Pepsi Sonics will face Legends tonight in the first game of a double header while Ravens will try to evade the sting of the Scorpions in the second game at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall as the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association's Super League tournament nears its climax.
    Tomorrow night will see Maccabeen Rangers come up against the number two seeded Nets while Legends face the league leaders, Courts Pacesetters.
    Pacesetters boast a perfect 6-0 record in the tournament and team coach Robert Cadogan has made his intentions clear to end the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record with two games remaining.

  • GABA League Tourney - Colts defeat Scorpions by 10 points
  • By Edison Jefford - Sunday, January 7th 2007
    The Bounty Colts continued to romp up the seed table by defeating the Scorpions by ten points at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Friday night when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) league tournament continued.
    The Colts came from behind in the first quarter to eventually rally to the 68-58 win that solidified their fourth place seeding in the tournament. The team had a good all round performance from their `big men'.
    Kelvin Simon scored 19 points with assistance from fellow centres, Gavin Beeram, 18 points and Dane Kendall, 13 points. Former Pacesetter, shooting guard Triston Lake continues to enjoy a productive season with the Colts with 10 points. Scorpions centre, Carl Jackman scored 22 points for the team while Kester Gomes finished with 10 points.
    The Scorpions are currently seeded fifth on the GABA tournament standing. In the other game that was scheduled for the night, the Pepsi Sonics gained a walk-over win from the Eagles.
    The Sonics are currently seeded sixth while the Eagles are unseeded after losing all their games thus far. A pre-tournament release from GABA indicated that the re-introduction of the GABA league was for the sole purpose of seeding teams in Georgetown for the upcoming 2007-basketball season. Courts Pacesetters currently enjoys the number one spot with a 6-0 record that gives the team 18 points with two more games to be played.
    The team will play the three seeded Nets and unseeded Legends next weekend.
    Pacesetters coach, Robert 'Bobby' Cadogan told Stabroek Sport yesterday that being number one is not strange for the team that once held the position for ten years in the 80s.
    "We were in this position many times before, this is not new for the team, maybe some players but not Pacesetters," Cadogan said as he gears up to end the league next week with a perfect 8-0 record.

  • East Bank Demerara Basketball Tournament:
    Herstelling and Prospect in semi-final showdown
  • Tuesday, January 9th 2007
    Herstelling and Prospect set up a semi-final showdown when both teams recorded victories in their quarter-final games as the East Bank Demerara Basketball tournament continued on Sunday.
    Courts Pacesetters' players Oral Webster and Clarence Blackman led Herstelling to a 35-32 win over Mocha- Arcadia on the Burnham Court. Webster scored 15 points while Blackman finished with 12 points.
    Shawn Haynes and Kkalid Dawoo topped Mocha's scoring with 12 and 10 points respectively to end the team's run in the 2006/07 tournaments.
    Prospect defeated Agricola 39-32 in the other quarter-final game to set up the clash with rivals, Herstelling. Quincy Boodhoo and Lance Gouviea scored 10 points each for Prospect while Agricola's Carl Jackman ended with 15 points.
    In the first game, Ravens' Rodwell Fortune scored 16 points to lead McDoom to a 50-37 blow out of Supply/Soesdyke. Quincy Goodluck and Travis Burnette had 10 points each for McDoom. Vivian Alder and Lance Barker led the scoring for Supply with 10 and 15 points respectively.
    McDoom snatched the last quarter- final spot with the victory and will play Barama for a semi-final place on Sunday.
    The other quarter-final to be played will see Bagotstown come up against the highly regarded Grove team from 1 pm on Sunday at the Burnham Basketball Court. The winner of the two quarter-final games will play in the semi-final set for the following Sunday.
    The top team in the tournament will take home $30,000 while second and third-placed teams will get $20,000 and $10,000, respectively. All three cash prizes will be given along with the respective trophies.
    Individual prizes include Most Valuable Player, Most Rebounds, Most Assist, Most Steals, Most Blocks, Most Improved Player and Best Rookie awards. Giftland Office Max, Macorp, Terry Paton, Ulrick Ramanah and Hollow Blocks Master and Concrete products sponsored the tournament.

  • Sonics say GABA's ruling unconstitutional
  • Thursday, January 4th 2007
    The Pepsi Sonics stopped one breath short of calling the Georgetown Amateur Basket-ball Association (GABA) a one-man show Tuesday when they released details of an appeal they filed with the association.
    Assistant coach and treasurer of the basketball club, Holisworth Casey filed an appeal on Friday, the day after the club was hit with a $5000 fine and the suspension of two of its players after a fight erupted between them and the Ravens at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Casey and the Sonics' leading guard Ryan Melville and the Ravens' starting forward Damian Liverpool were involved in the fight.
    Casey said at the root of the club's appeal is that the disciplinary hearing was unconstitutional since "one man", GABA President Chris Bowman, hosted the hearing and not a disciplinary committee. This, he said, contradicts the GABA constitution which states that in instances where discipline is necessary, a disciplinary committee must be formed comprising a chairman, a players' representative, a referee and two individuals from the public.
    The GABA, the governing body for basketball in Georgetown called the matter "serious" and the likely penalties "severe". However, after the ruling was handed down the clubs were relieved that the penalties were not too severe. They will each pay $5000 while Liverpool will sit out four games and Casey and Melville one game each.
    The Sonics' appeal against the ruling is largely based on the team's view that the ruling may not be the general consensus of GABA. "Under GABA rules, when you file an appeal, the GABA executive will either approve or turn it down," Casey said, adding that that way more persons are involved in the decision-making process.
    Under the section "Disciplinary Process" the GABA constitution acknowledges the need for a disciplinary committee, but pardoned the formation of that committee since "executives have direct affiliation with clubs." These executives include Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Darcel Harris, Treasurer Merle Jordon and Secretary Bruce Haynes. Jordon is currently overseas while Harris and Haynes were excused from the disciplinary process. Bowman and Deputy David Carto are the other executive members.
    The formation of the GABA disciplinary committee makes provision for only one executive from the association; the other members are taken from outside of the executive. Therefore, Casey argues in the appeal, Bowman's explanation for not having the constitutional disciplinary committee is unreasonable. He also questions Bowman's ruling that the disciplinary process, "for expediency sake; not withstanding the shortcomings of the disciplinary committee"¦ was maintained to the best of its ability" when a disciplinary committee was not formed to make a ruling.

  • Legends and Ravens last basketball winners for 2006
  • LEGENDS and Ravens basketball clubs were the two last winners for 2006. The teams won against Eagles and Nets when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) league continued at the Cliff Anderson Sports on Saturday night.
    Legends won against Eagles 72-69, despite some control by the losers in the latter half. Eugene Kingston piled in 19 points, while Kerwin Blades added 14 and Rondell Murphy 11 for the winners.
    At the other end of the court, shooting guard Kevin Sunich exploded, scoring a night-high 27 points in vain. Assisting were Adrian Hooper (17) and Drumson Macaulay (14).
    In game two Ravens defeated Nets 57-54 through an all-round contribution. Ryan Stephney scored 14, Kevin Lawrence 13 and Darcel Harris 12. For the Nets Triston Tulloch (14) and Phelam Doris (10) were the double-digit scorers.

  • Nationwide first division basketball tournament:
    Nets, Kings book semi-final spots
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, February 20th 2007
    Georgetown, (GUY) Nets Basketball Club reached their first nationwide first division semi-final Sunday night at the McKenzie basketball court when the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) tournament continued in the mining town with a double-header.
    Centre Fabian Johnson poured in 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for a double/double to ensure that Nets went away with a 63-53 win over Linden's Victory Valley Royals.
    Johnson with his second individual score over 20 points in two games is the leading candidate for the tournament's leading scorer award.
    The lanky centre chalked up 28 points in his first game of the tournament against Maccabees. Forwards Mortimer Williams and Sheldon Howell scored 14 points each for Nets in Sunday night's game to help with the team's offence. Howell also grabbed 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double/double.
    Steven Couchman led the scoring for Royals with 11 points while Mark Richards and Anson Durant both scored 10 points in the game.
    In the second game, Kings set up a semi-final clash with Nets tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with a 48-38 victory over Wismar Pistons.
    Kings' centre Jason Alonzo finished with 14 points while Omally Sampson had 12 points in the game that saw none of the Pistons' players reaching double figures - Nkosi Gurrick and Kelvin Boston had eight points each for Pistons.
    According to the NLE 2007 fixture, Nets will play defending champions, Kings tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in the first semi-final encounter. The second semi-final between Pacesetters and Scorpions is set for Thursday at the same venue.
    Nets face their toughest challenge in the 2007 tournament tonight when they come up against the champions. However with the strong performances of Johnson so far, it is clear that he will play a major role in the outcome of the game.
    Two areas of concern for the Nets unit are the absence of a coach to run the bench and the absence of the team's starting point guard, Jermaine McAllister from the team's tournament roster.
    McAllister's absence leaves a vacuum at the top of the key for the team while reducing its face break chances on offence. The Nets cannot risk their game against Kings by playing without someone to 'run' the bench. The level of concentration that is required against Kings will not allow the Nets to control the bench from inside the game as they have done to date. The team needs to raise the bar against Kings.
    Williams and Howell along with guard Pelham Doris are some of the big names for Nets in the tournament. Forward Triston Tulloch has also been stepping up for the team. They will need all their charges to come up big tonight.
    Kings are expected to employ their usual sharp shooting from outside the arc to gain easy offensive advantages. Marvin Hartman will lead the team's shooting prowess while Alonzo controls the bottom.
    Kings are also playing without one of their top guards in Steve Neils Jr. Kings are expected to be more systematic owing to the fact that last year's national coach, Abdullah Hamid is responsible for setting the plays and dealing with the bench.
    However, Nets' man-to-man skills are as good as any team in the country. Nets has been one of the more consistent teams in Georgetown for the past 12 months.
    The team can feed off its victory against Pacesetters in the Georgetown first division league tournament in the only game the Courts' unit lost in that series. Nets is ranked number three in Georgetown.

  • Nationwide First Division Basketball Tournament:
    Pacesetters, Scorpions set up semi-final showdown
  • By Edison Jefford - Sunday, February 18th 2007
     Georgetown, (GUY) It was deja vu for Courts Pacesetters Basketball Club at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Friday night after reaching its second consecutive nationwide first division basketball semi-final in the 2nd annual Next Level Entertain-ment (NLE) tournament.
    The Georgetown number one seeded team extended its winning streak to nine wins in ten games in the last four months with a convincing 84-71 win over longtime rival and old friend, Bounty Colts in the feature game.
    Shooting guard Stephon Gillis scored 15 points while forward Naylon Loncke ended with 13 and centre Horace Hodges had 12 points to lead Pacesetters past Colts in a perfect record against the team in the last 12 months.
    Pacesetters defeated Colts in the Albert Bentick tournament and the Georgetown League tournament respectively last year.
    Former Pacesetter, shooting guard Triston Lake scored 16 points for Colts while Dane Kendall and Oneiko Fraser scored 15 and 12 points respectively as the team romped out of the 2007 tournament.
    The Georgetown top team had to complete the win without the services of lead guard, Stephon 'Penny' Henry owing to an injury Henry sustained late in the fourth quarter of the battle.
    Chairman of the Courts team, Dennis Clark told Stabroek Sport yesterday that Henry would not be playing for six weeks because of a fractured knee. Clarke said that a replacement is likely but he declined to call any names.
    "We should get to bring in a player, I have to speak with the promoters (NLE) about a replacement for Henry. We don't want to say much but we will look and see what we can do about that situation," Clarke said.
    Henry's return to Pacesetters for this tournament gave the team a much-needed edge in the point guard position with Henry's speed, clean, accurate assists and high energy on the court in rushing the ball up court.
    Clarke said that he is grateful for the assistance the promoters gave, especially Yannick Charles, in helping Henry get to the hospital Friday night and ensuring that the top guard got home.
    Beepat's Scorpions was the first team through to their first NLE semi-final Friday night with an 88-71 win over a Berbice combined team at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in game one of the double- header.
    Point guard Darren Gordon scored 17 points for Scorpions while Devon Bacchus, Carl Jackman and Trevor McCloud helped Scorpions set up a battle against Pacesetters in the semi-finals with 15, 14 and 10 points respectively.
    Despite Berbice's crushing defeat, Carlos Crandon can hold his head up high after equalling the 2007 tournament's highest individual points when he scored 28 to help post a challenge for his team. Carl Fraser put in 17 points to aid Crandon.
    Nets' Fabian Johnson had scored 28 points to put his team past Maccabees last Tuesday. The Nets will need a similar performance from Johnson tonight in Linden when they come up against Victory Valley Royals at the McKenzie court.
    The Nets team will make their second move toward a national title in the feature game while Kings play Wismar Pistons in an all- Linden affair in the other quarter-final game tonight.

  • Nation wide first division basketball tournament:
    Old friends meet in quarter-final showdown
  • By Edison Jefford - Friday, February 16th 2007
    Georgetown, (GUY) A much - anticipated battle looms at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall tonight when old friends from Courts Pacesetters and Bounty Colts meet in the feature quarter-final game of the Next Level Entertainment nation-wide first division basketball tournament.
    The quarter-final round of the tournament commences tonight with Berbice All- Stars taking on Beepat's Scorpions in the first game from 7pm. The Courts Pacesetters vs. Bounty Colts game is expected to begin at 9pm.
    A few players from the Pacesetters unit took trades last year to fill vacant slots in the Bounty Colts line-up. The most productive of the Courts players traded to Colts has been shooting guard, Triston Lake.
    The Colts were anxiously awaiting an opportunity to avenge their crushing defeat by the Pacesetters in the Georgetown first-division league tournament last December; tonight they will have that chance.
    The team will continue to rely on the strength of its middle and lower- post players including big men, Gavin Beeram, Dane Kendall and Kelvin Simon for sufficient defensive pressure.
    Colts' guards will have to learn how to rotate the ball from the top of the key to rival the swift pace of the Courts' team. Colts' point guard, Kayode Murray will be the likely candidate to 'mark' the speedy Courts' guard, Stephon 'Penny' Henry.

  • Nationwide First Division Basketball Tournament :
    Nets steps closer to national title
  • By Edison Jefford - Thursday, February 15th 2007
     Georgetown, (GUY) Nets stepped closer to a national title bid Tuesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with an emphatic 23 points win over Maccabees in the last first round game of the Next Level nationwide first division tournament.
    The Meadowbrook-based team easily dismissed any challenge from Maccabees to become the final team to qualify for the final eight of the tournament in the feature game of a double-header with a 94-71 win.
    Centre, Fabian Johnson scored 28 points for Nets in the game to register the tournament's highest individual score so far with support coming from forwards Triston Tulloch (21 points), Mortimer Williams (13 points) and Sheldon Howell (12 points).
    Shooting guard Hodayah Stewart and newly-acquired centre Akini Mars scored 17 points each to lead the offence for Maccabees, while K'naniel Stewart pitched in with 12 points.
    Former Courts Pacesetter player Bevon Gordon was absent from the top scoring list despite his valiant performance from the three- point range that kept the Maccabees in the game in the final half of the 40-minute encounter.
    Down 49-32 at the start of the third quarter, Maccabees' Gordon landed a huge three-point jump shot to adjust the scores to 49-35; Maccabees sensed an opening for an offensive run and immediately upped defensive pressure.
    However, the heightened man-to-man defence attack created an imbalance on the court, since Maccabees could not rival the head- to- head skill of the Nets - the tactic created opportunities for Nets' Pelham Doris to penetrate from the top of the key.
    Maccabees employed the services of high flying forward Ewart Smith for the first time in the game but the team was completely outwitted by the Nets on every strategy they pulled from the coaching manuals Tuesday night.
    Howell with a jumper in the 'paint' gave Nets their first 20- point lead at 61-40 near the end of the third quarter. In the final two minutes of the third, Gordon nailed another three-point jumper to bring the Nets lead under 20 points (63-45).
    Gordon was not done yet from the three-point range and the lanky forward nailed an almost impossible jumper from way beyond the ark with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter and another long shot at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
    Gordon manoeuvred around the baseline defence to hit a short jump that was worth two points to end his prolific scoring which kept Maccabees from complete embarrassment. He scored an unofficial 14 points in the game.
    Maccabees had an aggressive offensive surge in the first five minutes of the final quarter but the Nets were too hot to hold - the team's conversion on offence was approximately 70 percent while they shot almost 55 percent from the field.
    Nets slipped away on a 16-3 run to secure a quarter-final place for the number three seeded Georgetown team. Nets will face Linden's Victory Valley Royals in Linden for a semi-final spot in Linden on Sunday.
    Royals disposed of Pepsi Sonics 62-49 earlier Tuesday night in the first game to advance and also move on in the win-or-go-home tournament.
    Dwight Hooper top scored for the Linden side with 15 points while Mark Richards and Seon Harris scored 10 points each. Trevor Smith was the only player in double figures for the Sonics with 10 points.
    The final eight teams in the tournament are last year's champions, Kings, Georgetown's number one seeded team, Courts Pacesetters, Wismar Pistons, Royals, Nets, Berbice All Stars, Beepat's Scorpions and Bounty Colts.
    Pacesetters will play Bounty Colts in the feature game Friday night while Scorpions come up against Berbice in the first game. The Royals vs. Nets game is set as the feature game in Linden on Sunday with Kings playing Pistons in the first game.
    The winners of the upcoming quarter-final games will advance to the semi-final set for Tuesday and Thursday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, where the teams will settle the scores for a final spot on February 25.

  • Royals and Nets advance in NLE basketball
  • Linden (GUY) LINDEN’S Victory Valley Royals and Georgetown Nets advanced to the quarterfinals of the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) knockout club basketball competition on Tuesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    The Royals players turned on the heat in the last few minutes of the game to surge ahead of Pepsi Sonics 62-49, while in the feature clash Nets, Georgetown’s number three team (behind number one Courts Pacesetters and number two Ravens), thrashed Maccabees from the tip-off to claim a lopsided 94-71 points victory.
    For the Royals, Dwight Hooper scored 15 and Mark Richards scored 10. At the other end, Trevor Smith posed the greatest resistance with 10 points, while seasoned scorers Richard Braithwaite and Ryan Melville added eight each.
    The feature clash saw Nets race to a 14-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game. In that run Tristan Tulloch drilled two three-pointers while Fabian Johnson ripped through the defence in the paint to score under the basket.
    By the second quarter Tulloch (the highest scorer in the Georgetown League with an average of 19 points per game) scored his third three-pointer to carry the lead to 20 points 34-14.
    Maccabees did cut the lead to eight in the first half with shooting guard Hodayah Stewart producing some excellent plays, but it was not enough as Nets kept on scoring.
    In the last two periods, Nets continued to impress, showing their depth of scoring and in the process thrilling the crown with well executed plays.
    Johnson led the attack with 28 points, while Tulloch scored 21 and Sheldon Howell 12. For the losers Stewart and centre Akeni Mars scored 17 points each.

  • Nationwide First Division Basketball Tournament :
    Courts Pacesetters secures 73-61 win over East Coast
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, February 13th 2007
     Georgetown, (GUY) Point guard Steffon 'Penny' Henry and centre Horace Hodges came into Courts Pacesetters' starting lineup Sunday night to help the Georgetown number one seeded team get past East Coast at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    Henry was out of the team for sometime while Hodges, an East Bank brand, made his debut for the Courts team to add the offensive and defensive balance the team needed to secure a 73-61 win in the Next Level nationwide first division tournament.
    Both players scored under 10 points but contributed in blocked shots - defence and assists to eventually become top scorers, Naylon Loncke and Desmond Chin. The two forwards, Loncke and Chin, scored 16 and 15 points respectively.
    Trenton Woolford scored 14 points while Dave Causway put in 12 for the East Coast team that applied early pressure on Pacesetters.
    It was obvious that the Courts team was taking time to get adjusted to the new starting lineup. Hodges got into his rhythm low in the paint in the first quarter dominating the offensive boards and creating openings for Henry of fast break. The Courts team raced to a 16-8 lead with three minutes left in the quarter.
    The East Coast starting guard, Kevin Sunich could not combat the speed and succinct assists by Henry who found the open player at any part of the court.
    Courts coach Cadogan continued to search for the right combination in the second quarter with previous starter in the guard position, Stephon Gillis coming into the game for the first time at the start of the quarter.
    Marvin Wray also replaced Henry in the second quarter to lead Pacesetters to a 42-31 lead at half time. It was back to business for the Georgetown champions in the second half which saw less substations made by Cadogan.
    Both teams scored five points in the first five minutes of the second half but a three- point jumper and lay-up from Loncke led Pacesetters to their biggest lead (52-37) in the game near the end of the third quarter.
    It was smooth sailing in the final 10 minutes of the game for the Pacesetters despite a full court pressure defensive strategy being applied late in the game.
    The tactic from East Coast forced a few blunders for the Courts team but their lead was enough to override the fumbles.
    In the first game, Bounty Colts initiated an all Georgetown affair when they dominated U-Mobile Jets to secure a 74-52 win over the Linden team.
    Point guard Kayode Murray was on point for the Colts with 13 points while big men Dane Kendall and Gavin Beeram helped with 11 and 13 points respectively to earn the side a quarter-final place.
    Neil Chance was Jets' leading scorer with 15 points while J. Inverary added 11 points as the team exited the tournament in the knockout competition.
    However, tonight Linden's Royals will face Pepsi Sonics in game one of a double header with Maccabees coming up against Nets in the feature game at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for the final two quarter-final places.
    Nets's Pelham Doris, Mortimer Williams and point guard Jermain McAllister are looking to make a statement with an intriguing performance in the feature game tonight. The team's performance depends heavily on the three quality players.
    Maccabees have not enjoyed the best performances in the game recently. The team will have to dig deep to forge an upset against the respected Nets team. Maccabees will depend on Ush and Hodayah Stewart for strong performances.

  • Twinkillas.com to pay for Guyana’s participation fee for CBC senior basketball
  • By Joe Chapman
    New York (USA), AFTER realising the constraints the local governing Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation is facing to return Guyana to the international basketball scene, the Twinkillas.com website, owned by former Guyanese basketball players, will raise the necessary funds to pay for the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s CBC annual membership subscription and the registration fees for this year’s CBC competition in Puerto Rico and will also provide uniforms for the Men's National Team.
    This much was assured from the Guyanese brothers, Patrick and Paul Haynes, who reside in the United States and have a vested interest in providing the federation with the vehicle to clear hurdles in an attempt to have Guyana participate at this level for the first time in seven years.
    Among their recent contributions were: the uniforms used by the youth teams in last year’s Inter-Guiana Games in Suriname, trophies and several other prizes for the just-concluded Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association’s Super League championship.
    They are, however, seeking assurance from the local governing body that it will ensure the necessary participation becomes possible.
    A non-refundable fee of US$1 000 is charged for each team which intends to participate at these championships. A decision was taken late last month to have the Caribbean Basketball Confederation’s (CBC) Senior Men’s and Women’s basketball championships staged this year in Puerto Rico, with the male tournament being played August 6-10 in Caguas and the female tournament August 11-14 August in Morovis.
    Last year’s biennial championships saw Jamaica win the men’s tournament and the female title. In 2004 the Cubans dominated the championship at home to win both crowns and last year the Jamaicans, playing at home, scored the double. Guyana last contested the Caricom Basketball Championships in Barbados in 2000.
    But the CBC Executive Committee in November last year in the United States Virgin Islands decided that the Junior Tournaments would not be played as planned in 2007.
    The bid for the staging of the championship was won by Puerto Rico over the Dominican Republic and Suriname, whose bids were not considered after they failed to show up at the General Assembly of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation, which met towards the end of January in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.
    But the decision to divide the tournaments came from the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation and was supported by the majority of the Caribbean Federations. However, this was after host nation Puerto Rico's Federation had proposed to stage only the men's tournament. But the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) rules mandate that both competitions be held in the same country.
    A maximum of ten teams including Cuba and the Dominican Republic will be allowed to enter this tournament according to the organisers and the teams must be registered by March 1 by paying a non-refundable registration fee of US$1 000 for each team. The two top teams will qualify for the 2008 Centrobasket Tournament.

  • Wismar Pistons, Beepat's Scorpions score easy wins
  • By Edison Jefford - Monday, February 12th 2007
    Wismar Pistons and Georgetown's Scorpions completed easy wins at the Mackenzie Hardcourt Saturday night to set up challenges with Kings and Berbice respectively in the quarter-final round of the Next Level nation-wide first division tournament.
    Quincy Jones put in a double/double performance with 10 points and 17 boards to lead the Pistons past Bulls 57-46 in the first game. Marvin Tyrell scored 10 points to help Jones send home the team's counter-part.
    Bulls' Terrence James' double/double effort of 14 points and 14 rebounds was to no avail after the team led 17-15 in the first quarter of the game. Ruel Mckinnon finished with 11 points for Bulls.
    In the second and feature game, Beepat's Scorpions took apart Retrieve Raiders of Linden in the second half of the game to record a 66-51 victory after Raiders held a one-point (22-21) lead at half-time.
    Carl Jackman completed a double/double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Scorpions while Neil Marks entered 24 points for Raiders. Scorpions will play Berbice for a semi-final spot.
    Scorpions' venom should be extremely lethal from this stage of the tournament with all likelihood of making the final four. Pistons will face the top team in Linden, Kings in their quarter-final duel.
    Meanwhile, Bounty Colts met U-Mobile Jets last night in the first game while Georgetown's number one-seed, Courts Pacesetters, were to play East Coast in the feature game of the double-header.
    The winners of last night's game will play each other for a semi-final spot, where they will either meet Berbice or Scorpions. The floodgates are wide open and the $250,000 first place prize can go to any of the teams.
    However, with Kings' clinical demolition of East Coast Friday night, it is clear that the defending champions want to send a clear message to the other teams in the tournament from around Guyana.

  • Nationwide First Division Basketball Tournament:
    Kings, Berbice through to quarterfinals
  • By Edison Jefford - Sunday, February 11th 2007
    Kings and Berbice All-Stars recorded walkover victories Friday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Next Level Entertainment (NLE) nationwide first division tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    Berbice was scheduled to play last year's runners-up, Ravens in the first game, while Kings was down to play an East Bank combined team in the feature encounter on the opening night of the tournament. Ravens forfeited their game owing to what the team called an "unfair" debarring of national centre, Dwayne 'Sugar' Roberts from the tournament.
    The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) had issued a release last week asking NLE not to allow Roberts to play in the tournament until the federation had investigated his situation. The top player was issued a two-year ban by the Linden sub- association for a fight that erupted on the McKenzie court in Linden during an invitational game between Linden's Kings and Georgetown's Ravens.
    Coach of the Ravens, Lugard Mohan told Stabroek Sport Friday night that the team had not received any formal letter stating any position by the association or the federation on Roberts's ban. "The federation is the governing body of all associations, they sent Ravens no letter stating that Roberts can't play," Mohan said, adding that Roberts was allowed to play in the recently concluded Georgetown first division league tournament. According to Mohan, Ravens could have won the tournament without Roberts but the team decided to support the player. "Ravens decided to stand beside one of its players, we don't have to play 'Sugar' to win the tournament but the team fully supports the decision; it's not my decision but Ravens' decision," Mohan explained.
    Two players from the Kings unit were involved in the matter in Linden but they received much lighter punishment than Roberts and were present for the team's game Friday night. East Bank combined did not turn up for their game against defending champions, Kings in the feature game.
    Both Kings and Berbice became the first two teams through to the next round. Kings will play the winner of a Bulls vs. Pistons game while Berbice All-Stars awaits the winner of a Retrieve Raiders vs. Scorpions game played last night at the McKenzie hard court in Linden.
    Georgetown's hope of taking the title out of the mining town now rests on number one seed in the Garden City, Courts Pacesetters with the untimely exit of Ravens from the tournament.

  • NLE competition could cripple GABF's plan for return to CBC championships
  • … says Joe Chapman
    THIS weekend the second annual Next Level Basketball (NLE) championship will begin involving sixteen teams from around the country.
    This tournament has attracted some hefty cash incentives with the coming on board of some big-name sponsors; and in collaboration with the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) the competition promises a lot for both the players and the fans.
    It comes on the heels of a successful first year where the Kashif and Shanghai Kings shot to the top of the rankings among clubs in the country. As one naturally welcomes such initiatives, there are some things to be considered at this time.
    Over the past few years the governing body, Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), has come under tremendous pressure from one of its two major affiliates, the GABA, and rightfully or wrongfully, depending from which perspective you look at it; the game suffered.
    At the same time one of the main ingredients needed became scarce, as funds were hard to come by through sponsorship for the game’s development at the national level.
    At the start of this year, there was much hope of 2007 becoming the year basketball was going to be given a “fast break” and prosper at all levels with the major aim that Guyana would return to the sphere of international basketball by first attending its first Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships after seven years, since the Barbados 2000 CBC Senior championships.
    The recent effort by both the GABF president Colonel Godwin McPherson and president of the GABA Chris Bowman to have dialogue on a way forward for the game was at least encouraging. It meant that after two years of serious wrangling over matters which were germane to the development of the sport that there actually was some hope sighted at the end of the tunnel.
    Tomorrow, as the NLE championship bounces off that foresight is becoming blurred. Last year when the Next Level Entertainment and the GABF collaborated to bring off the first tournament, it was strongly opposed by the GABA, which at the time stated that it was not recognising the federation for reasons which included the questionable biennial elections two years ago and due this year around.
    It went as far as the GABA having a MOU signed with NLE before they agreed to release clubs from under its wings to forge some movement of the stalemate with the GABF, aimed to bring the dispute to a closure over a short period.
    However, this was not to be and come this year, the NLE apparently did not seek approval from the GABF, but was able to convince the GABA to be its partners this time around.
    It remains unknown why this switch took place but the decision by GABA to sanction the tournament did not go down well with the federation. A tournament of this nature meant that the sanctioning body would have to include the GABF. This was also done during ongoing talks between the presidents of the GABF and the GABA.
    Apparently, the GABA did not realise how far-reaching their decision could be felt as it pertains to the revival of the sport at the Caribbean level for Guyana.
    The federation was on one hand hoping to run off a three-game series between inter association giants Georgetown and Linden when the plan was between the GABA and NLE to run off a nationwide club tournament. NLE claims that they did indicate this to the GABF but a federation official said that at an appropriate time they will speak on the matter.
    This meant therefore there was a clash of dates and one had to decide which would wait.
    The federation then took the decision to back off from its plans and allow the NLE to go ahead. And therein lay the problems facing the GABF. This decision could cause Guyana’s return to the CBC fold to be delayed for perhaps another two years.
    After being able to pay off Guyana’s debts to the Caribbean basketball Confederation up to last year, the federation probably sought to raise funds with the inter-association series involving Georgetown and Linden.
    The GABF, if it intends to send team(s) to the CBC championships in August must indicate by paying a non-refundable sum of US$1 000 for each team (male or female) which would demonstrate the country’s formal and complete commitment of attending the championships. This would have been in keeping with what president of the GABF, McPherson, had stated of the federation’s interest in sending teams to this year’s championships.
    At the same time Guyana has to pay its annual affiliation fee of US$200 to the CBC to be allowed entry after McPherson worked overtime to have all the financial debts up to 2006 cleared.
    This means the governing body would have to fork out US$2 000 by the end of February to meet the March 1 deadline for such fees. At the same time the federation must pay its annual subscription fees to the CBC.
    Where will the money come from if the federation does not have the promotions that it is best suited to have, involving the players to raise funds?
    It stands to reason therefore, that the chance of raising the necessary money to at least signal your intentions of attending the Puerto Rico championships has gone through the window.
    Perhaps, although, McPherson and Bowman were meeting to push the game forward and let certain matters be addressed over some time, they failed to connect their intentions to the most fundamental planning to raise funds for the national effort to attend international tournaments.
    In not being able to jump-start the fund-raising drive, knowing the deadlines to be met, the GABA’s decision to partner NLE without briefing the GABF has also compromised that progression for the game locally and probably has crippled plans to send teams for this year’s championships. At this juncture, going to Puerto Rico therefore seems very distant indeed.

  • Georgetown versus Linden basketball series pushed back to March 3:
    GABF requests that Dwayne Roberts not play in NLE competition
  • G/T versus Linden basketball series pushed back to March 3 - GABF requests that Dwayne Roberts not play in NLE competition
    THE Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) has pushed forward the hosting of the Georgetown versus Linden male and female three-game series which was scheduled to run from February 10 to March 3.
    According to a release from the Federation this is to accommodate the hosting of the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) Knockout Club Competition. The release stated that the NLE competition which starts tonight was sanctioned by the GABF on the approach by Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) president Chris Bowman.
    Initially NLE went to the Georgetown Association for sanctioning of the competition. This move in all regards is unconstitutional and through the release the Federation made it clear that it was the governing body of basketball in the country and as such advised “all sponsors and promoters that tournaments that included teams from around the country must be sanctioned by the GABF and not sub-associations.”
    The Federation also stamped its authority by requesting that Dwayne Roberts not play in the NLE competition.
    The Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) had banned Roberts for two years due to disorderly behaviour during a game in Linden (September last year), this ban was, however, rejected by the GABA and Roberts who plays for the Ravens basketball club was allowed to play in Georgetown.
    The release said that the GABF will convene its disciplinary body to oversee the games of the competition.
    Added to this, it was stated that the GABF Panel of Coaches (headed by Bobby Cadogan) Mark Agard, Derek Alphonso and Abdulla Hamid will use the NLE competition to have a first hand look at potential players for national selection.

  • GABF, not sub-associations must sanction tournaments
  • By Edison Jefford - Friday, February 9th 2007
    The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) issued a warning Wednesday indicating that the federation must sanction all tournaments.
    As a course of proper procedure, sponsors and promoters should know that the governing body for basketball in Guyana is the GABF. However on numerous occasions promoters and even sub-associations have violated this procedure.
    "The GABF is the governing body of basketball in Guyana and advises all sponsors and promoters that tournaments which include teams from around the country must be sanctioned by the GABF and not sub-associations," a GABF statement said.
    The federation saw the need to issue the statement ahead of the 2007 Next Level Entertainment (NLE) tournament that gets underway at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall tonight.
    A sub-association, the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association, (GABA) apparently jumped ahead of the GABF and offered sanction to the promotion group NLE without the authorization of the federation.
    Co-Executive of NLE, Yannick Charles had told Stabroek Sport in a report carried on Sunday that the group sent a letter to the federation indicating that they would be collaborating with the sub-associations to host the 2007 tournaments.
    Charles said that he had received no response to the letter from the GABF.
    However, he did not state whether the letter was a request for sanctioning or not. He did say, however, that the letter provided information about the upcoming tournament. The GABF said that tournament had created some concern but nevertheless, in the interest of the sport and the spirit of competition the GABF decided to sanction the tournament after being approached by GABA president Chris Bowman.
    The federation did not want to say that Bowman did the first thing last in directing requests for sanctioning to the head body after he had already released the Georgetown teams and appeared with NLE at the launching of the tournament.
    President of the GABF, Godwin McPherson told Stabroek Sport Wednesday that the next time an issue such as this comes up the federation will not handle it lightly.
    "You either do it right or not at all," McPherson said, adding that the International Basketball Association (IBA) and the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) only recognise the federation as the legitimate governing body for basketball in Guyana.
    "Bowman cannot speak for Linden (the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), East Coast and the East Bank," the federation's top executive explained.
    Several clubs in Georgetown had expressed their concern over the manner in which they received invitations to play in the tournament. One club said that if the federation had not cleared the issue they would have withdrawn from the competition.
    "We want to ensure that the tournament is sanctioned by the right body," president of that club said. Representatives of the clubs in the tournament were invited to an exclusive meeting with the promoters Wednesday at the GABA headquarters.
    Meanwhile, the federation said in the release that they would revisit the Dwayne 'Sugar' Roberts issue that resulted in the player being banned for two years by the Linden association after a fight in the mining town.
    "In an effort to stem the indiscipline amongst players, the GABF is requesting that the organizers, Next Level Entertainment, exclude Roberts from participating in this competition until the GABF makes a conclusion on this matter," the release said.
    The barring of Roberts from this year's tournament will be a major blow to the Ravens' basketball club. Roberts's absence from the games of the GABA league tournament is one of the factors that resulted in the team's third place finish in that tournament.
    Indiscipline has cost Ravens one of their top players and may cost them the $250,000 first place prize after finishing as runners-up last year. The GABF stated that the federation's disciplinary committee would be convened at the NLE tournament.
    The second-placed team in this year's NLE nationwide knockout first division competition will net $100,000 while the third-placed team bags $50,000. Kings, Ravens and Courts Pacesetters were the top three finishers at the first installment of the tournament last year.

  • GT&T maintains support of NLE nationwide KO basketball
  • The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has maintained for the 2nd year its partnership with the Next Level Entertainment (NLE), promoters of the annual 16 team knockout Basketball competition set to bounce off on Friday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    Yesterday, Marketing Officer Renatha Exeter presented a cheque for an undisclosed amount to organizer Yannick Charles. “As a company we have always supported the development of local talent and we are proud to be associated with this young group...” We will continue to support this tournament which affords dozens of youths the opportunity to showcase their talent.”
    The simple ceremony took place at the company's Canteen, Hadfield Street yesterday morning. Charles in response expressed his group's appreciation for GT&T's continued support for the tournament and the development of the sport.
    Rivalry in the 2nd annual competition is set to bounce off on Friday evening with two exciting match ups. Defending champions Kashif and Shanghai Kings bounce against East Bank while Ravens oppose Berbice.
    Two matches will be contested at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court on Saturday evening, a first for Linden .

  • 13th Annual East Bank Basketball Tournament:
    Bagotstown edges Barama for second consecutive title
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, February 6th 2007
    Barama's Kenneth Charles drives to the basket while Bagotstown's Kwesi Roberts (centre) and Darren Thomas (left) offer the defensive challenges at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Sunday night. (Lawrence Fanfair photo).
    Bagotstown fought long and hard Sunday night to ensure that the East Bank Basketball title remained in the village when the team came up against finals first timers, Barama at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    Pacesettters' first division captain, Kwesi Roberts demonstrated his leadership ability by guiding the Bagots-town side to their second consecutive title; Bagotstown edged Barama 55-53 in a long-awaited contest.
    Roberts scored 11 points and also copped the award for scoring the most points in the tournament. Horace Hodges chalked up 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Roberts with a double-double for Bagotstown.
    Jets' Trevor Profitt led the challenge for Barama with 18 points that were good enough to earn him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Byron Pearson finished with 14 points for the plywood company.
    Bagotstown signalled their intention to retain the crown early in the first half when the team capitalised on Barama's pre warm-up jitters to lead 8-2 but Barama's extremely vocal supporters woke them up in time.
    A three-point shot and four consecutive points from Pearson put Barama up 14-10 for the first time in the game. Profitt took advantage of Randy Burgess' five turnovers in the first ten minutes of the first half ensuring that they were converted to valuable points.
    The two teams traded points until Bagotstown silenced the Barama posse with a 7-0 run to take a 25-20 lead at half time. The champs extended that lead to 34-22 in the first five minutes of the second half.
    Barama was not to be counted out yet; Pearson nailed two consecutive three-point jump shots, then a third three-point shot on alternate possession to haul the team to within one with the score set at 39-38 in favour of Bagotstown.
    The offensive surge by Barama brought their supporters back into the game and supplied enough energy for the team on defence. The team forced six consecutive Bagotstown turnovers in the final ten minutes of the game.
    Bagotstown was equally up to the challenge and did not see the team relinquishing the championship trophy at no time. Profitt hit a deciding three-point jumper to give Barama their first lead in the second half at 49-48.
    However, the lead was short-lived, lasting only one possession as Bagotstown regained the edge on the other side of the court. Barama was dealt a blow in offence when Pearson was fouled out with six minutes remaining on the game clock.
    The game switched to an aggressive title bout between two East Bank basketball giants with five minutes to play. The time did not yield many points as tempers flared on the court over defensive issues. To be exact, the last five minutes saw Barama add four points to 49 while Bagotstown added seven points to 48 to stomp their authority on the East Bank of Demerara as the top team in the district.
    Scorpions and Bagotstown centre, Darren Thomas took home the most rebounds of the tournament award while Grove's Shermon Oxford and Prospect's Mark Richards got the most assists and most steals awards respectively.
    Supply/Soesdyke's Vivian Alder and Lance Barker received the most blocks and best improved player trophies respectively. The best rookie of the tournament award went to Quincy Boodhoo.
    Herstelling blew away Prospect 72-48 in the third place playoff at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Sunday night. The team had four players in double figures as Prospect struggled to put their offense together.
    Gregory Horsham and Orel Webster top scored for Herstelling with 15 points each while Clarence Blackman added 13 points and Clebert Tornhill 11 points to claim third place for Herstelling in the competition.
    Lance Gouveia finished with 13 points while Mark Richards raked in 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double in a losing effort for Prospect. Sunday night's games brought to an end the 13th annual East Bank Basketball Championships.

  • Inter-Association Basketball tourney benched
  • By Edison Jefford - Sunday, February 4th 2007
    A decision has been taken by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) to allow the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) nationwide first division basketball tournament to commence ahead of the GABF inter-association tournament.
    A GABF official informed Stabroek Sport yesterday that the NLE tournament would start as scheduled while the GABF tournament will be pushed back to a date that will be announced later.
    The NLE tournament scheduled to commence on Friday would have clashed with the GABF tournament originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. But the problem has been resolved and the NLE tournament will commence as scheduled.
    President of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Chris Bowman confirmed yesterday that the GABF tournament would take the back seat and allow the NLE tournament to drive on.
    "The tournament will be played after NLE," Bowman said, adding that the Georgetown association will identify players and coaches for the GABA team.
    He said that the association is not ready to release more details about the tournament. According to Bowman, an official media briefing will be held on the details of the GABF tournament.
    The GABF official said that the NLE tournament will give the federation a better opportunity to spot players for the inter- association tournament and by extension, the national men's team.
    The federation had announced last week that its intent in staging the inter-association tournament was to select a national team for the upcoming Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) 2007 championships in Puerto Rico.
    The deadline for submission of teams to the CBC headquarters is March 1. The NLE tournament concludes on February 25. The federation will be left with six days to submit a team to CBC if it is serious about playing in the regional tournament.
    There is no time left after the NLE tournament to stage an inter-association competition to select players for the national team.
    The decision to postpone the inter-association tournament places the NLE tournament at the base of national selection.
    Executive of the promotion group NLE, Yannick Charles told Stabroek Sport yesterday that the federation is not communicating with the group. Charles said that NLE was oblivious to the federation's intention to stage an inter-association tournament.
    "We wrote the federation telling them about our tournament and providing the dates - they never told us that they were doing any tournament but we told them that we were staging our tournament in collaboration with the associations," Charles said.
    The NLE tournament was undoubtedly the biggest basketball tournament held last year and promised to be bigger this year. The first place team will get $250,000 while second and third will take home $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
    Individual prizes for the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Best Defensive Player and Best Shooter are up for grabs.
    On the other hand players will also be looking to impress the local selectors throughout the nationwide first division tournament for a chance to represent Guyana at the CBC championships.

  • East Bank basketball final set for this afternoon
  • By Faizool Deo
    DEFENDING champions Bagotstown will match skills with Barama from 16:00 h at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in the final game of the East Bank Basketball Championships.
    The afternoon starts off with the third place play-off between Herstelling and Prospect from 14:00 h and a women’s game featuring players mixed from Courts Pacesetters and Pepsi Sonics.
    Prior to today, the tournament which started last year was played at the Burnham Court. In the final Bagotstown may hold the edge, given that they are the 2005 winners and that a number of their players play club basketball and are exposed to the indoor court.
    Kwesi Roberts, who is an excellent shooter, will be leading the charge for the defending champions. Roberts proved to be one of the key players for the Courts Pacesetters team during their march to supremacy in the Georgetown league a few weeks ago.
    In the semi-finals of the competition Roberts chalked up 26 points to lead his team past Prospect. Also in the line-up for Bagotstown are the ‘big men’ Darren Thomas (Beepats’ Scorpions) and Horace Hodge (Pacesetters), who have dominated the paint, both offensively and defensively.
    Barama will be no whipping boys; for in the opening game the underdogs did some whipping of their own, handing Bagotstown their only defeat of the competition. Expected to lead the charge, are Trevor Profitt and Kenneth Charles.
    The winning team will collect $30 000 while second-placers collect $20 000 and third-placers $10 000. There will also be individual prizes up for grabs, for the most valuable player (MVP) the player with the most blocked shots, the player with the most rebounds, the player with the most assists, the most improved player and the best under-19 player.
    The competition was made possible through the compliments of Giftland Office Max, Macorp, Hollow Block Masters and Concrete Products, Terry Payton and Ulric Ramnah.

  • NLE tournament places basketballers in dilemma
  • By Edison Jefford - Friday, February 2nd 2007
    Basketball players in Guyana will shortly be faced with a dilemma. They will be faced with the choice of playing in the Guyana Amateur Basket-ball Federation's (GABF) Inter-Association's tournament or playing in the Next Level Entertainment (NLE) tournament which was launched yesterday at the conference room of Banks DIH Ltd.
    The GABF's tournament is set to kick off next Saturday with a Linden versus Georgetown clash at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall while the NLE tournament bounces off Friday at the same venue.
    President of the GABF Godwin Mc Pherson had told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview this week that the GABF was looking to send male and female teams to this year's Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) championships billed for Puerto Rico and that it intended to restore the pride of the national male and female teams at the championships.
    The GABF's Inter-Association tournament is the launching pad for the team's expected participation at the regional championships.
    The Inter-Association tournament continues next Sunday with the final match billed for the Cliff Anderson Sports hall on February 17.
    According to the NLE 2007 fixtures, Bulls will face Pistons and Retrieve Raiders will challenge Scorpions on February 10 in Linden. Bounty Colts comes up against Jets and Courts Pacesetters takes on East Coast on February 11 in Georgetown.
    It means that while the GABF tournament is being played in Georgetown, the NLE tournament will be played in Linden and vice versa next Saturday and Sunday.
    The $64000 question is who will play for their association and who will play in the NLE tournament when the dates of the two tournaments clash next weekend?
    Mc Pherson had also said that the governing body for basketball in Guyana would try to ensure that it had its hands on all matters relating to basketball in Guyana but the GABF has dropped the ball by sanctioning (if it has sanctioned the NLE tournament) the NLE tournament which will conflict with its own Inter-Association tournament.
    Coorganiser of the 2007 Next Level Entertainment (NLE) countrywide first division basketball tournament, Yannick Charles said yesterday that the upcoming NLE tournament will focus on discipline and performance.
    "This year we will be looking at discipline and performance; we will be looking to take basketball to the next level and make it better for everybody," Charles told the media at the press conference.
    When asked by Stabroek Sport to qualify what he meant by making basketball "better", Charles referred the question to president of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Chris Bowman.
    Stabroek Sport questioned whether, as Mc Pherson had said at last year's launch, the NLE competition would be used to field teams for this year's Caribbean championships.
    "I don't think that's Next Level's problem to make a team from Guyana participate at the CBC championships," Bowman said.
    The basketballers who play in the association's tournament will make a statement about the importance of representing one's country while those who opt to play in the NLE tournament which has a first prize of $250,000 will be viewed as placing money before their country's honour although whether a team will indeed attend the championships is open to debate since Guyana has not attended the championships since 2000.
    The Georgetown association (GABA) announced last week that their intention in hosting the GABA super league tournament last December was to change the motivation for players from money to pride.
    Public Relations Officer of Banks DIH, Ian Hercules stated yesterday that the beverage company has committed in excess of $300,000 to the successful staging of the 2007 NLE basketball competition.
    Bowman had also complained that the GABA league play-offs struggled because of lack of sponsorship. The GABA league tournament was the most important tournament last year since it was used to seed teams in Georgetown.
    It is because of the GABA league tournament that the top teams in Georgetown could be clearly identified for the NLE competition.
    However, the tournament did not benefit from financial gestures from companies such as Banks DIH. When asked about the criteria for sponsorship at the press conference yesterday, Banks DIH Marketing and Sales Executive, Carlton Joao said that the company's budgeted sum for sponsorship must be carefully spent.
    Joao told the media that the NLE tournament yielded a good response from the Guyanese public last year. Apart from good crowd response Joao said that tournament has to be financially viable to attract sponsorship.
    "Last year we saw a very good response from the (NLE) tournament. Lots of Guyanese came out to the (NLE) tournament; the tournament was financially viable," Joao added.
    Asked what they intend to do for the development of the sport locally; NLE's Jamaal Douglas said that the group would host a school tournament in an effort to begin development at the foundation level.
    Placing second in the 2007 NLE tournament would earn the team a $100,000 with half of that sum up for grabs for third place. Individual prizes will be awarded to the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Best Defensive Player and Best Shooter in the tournament.

  • NLE launches second club basketball competition:
    Now sanctioned by the GABA
  • By Faizool Deo
    YOUNG promoters Next Level Entertainment (NLE) will be running off their second knockout club basketball competition from February 9 to February 25 at the Cliff Anderson and in Linden (three games).
    This year, they have gone under the banner of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) instead of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) as they did last year when they hosted the first competition.
    Some 16 teams will be competing, including seven from Georgetown, six from Linden and one each from the East Bank, the East Coast and Berbice for the increased purse of $250 000 first place prize.
    Yesterday at the official launching at the Banks’ DIH head office, the beverage giants supported the venture with over $300 000, while other sponsors have already contributed.
    The teams in the competition are: Georgetown: league champions Courts Pacesetters, Ravens, Nets, Bounty Colts, Beepats’ Scorpions, Pepsi Sonics and Maccabees; Linden: defending champions Kashif and Shanghai Kings, Wismar Pistons, Victory Valley Royals, Retrieve Raiders, Bulls and Jets along with the three other teams.
    In pool ‘A’ Kings will open this year’s competition with a clash with East Bank at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. The second game will be played in Linden on Saturday 10th with Bulls tackling Pistons.
    On Tuesday February 13 in Georgetown, Royals would tackle Sonics, while Maccabees will play Nets. In Pool ‘B’ Ravens on the opening night will tackle a combined Berbice team, while on Saturday 10, Retrieve Raiders face Scorpions. On Sunday 11th, Bounty Colts face Jets and East Coast play Courts Pacesetters.
    The team in each pool will continue playing each other until there is a winner in the group and they then play the final on Sunday, February 25, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

  • GABF out to restore discipline: McPherson
  • By Edison Jefford - Thursday, February 1st 2007
    The Guyana Amateur Basket-ball Federation (GABF) will begin a systematic attempt to correct some of the problems facing the sport as early as next weekend when the federation hosts its inter-association basketball championships.
    President of GABF, Godwin McPherson told Stabroek Sport yesterday that the federation's calendar of events for 2007 bounces off with a Georgetown vs. Linden association basketball championships.
    McPherson said that the federation will "seek to restore discipline" from the beginning of its first calendar event. To accomplish this task, McPherson said that the disciplinary committee of the federation would be active during the tournament.
    "Sports is discipline in itself; it demands discipline and we will be activating our disciplinary committee during the tournament so that they can be active," McPherson said, adding that he has already spoken to the executive responsible for discipline.
    The president of the local basketball federation said the emphasis on discipline is in recognition of several complaints about that aspect of the sport. He said the federation would attempt to fix many of the problems that plague the sport this year.
    President of the George-town Amateur Basketball Association (GABA), Chris Bowman stated in report carried yesterday in this newspaper that indiscipline had marred the recently-concluded GABA super league tournament.
    In addition, President of the Linden Amateur Basket-ball Association (LABA), Colin Aaron and the Linden association handed down a heavy two-year ban on Ravens' Dwayne 'Sugar' Roberts late last year.
    Roberts was banned for his role in a fight that erupted during a Georgetown Ravens vs. Linden Kings game at the McKenzie court. Bowman's remarks about indiscipline followed a fight during the GABA league tournament.
    The GABF will seek to heal the rift between players and associations when the federation brings the best players of the GABA and LABA together for a basketball showdown billed for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and the McKenzie court.
    The dates set for the inter-association clash at the Sports Hall in Georgetown are February 10 and 17, while the McKenzie court in Linden will come alive on February 11.
    Apart from the inter-association tournament, the GABF will also host a national club championships billed for March. Five top clubs in Georgetown, four from linden along with clubs from other parts of the country will vie for supremacy.
    McPherson said that much emphasis would be placed on coaches and referees this year. Referees will benefit from a clinic in St Kitts while more coaches will receive international training.
    Bowman had also blamed the poor turnout and crowd response at the GABA league tournament on poor officiating. The GABF hopes to have its hands on this issue with clear strategies this year.
    "We will clearly identify and prepare referees to attend a Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) clinic in St. Kitts. As soon as we get the dates from CBC we will begin talking to people identified and raising funds," McPherson stated.
    "Once we have referees trained and qualified we will do local training," he said, adding that coaches will also be trained since currently Robert 'Bobby' Cadogan is the only active trained coach.
    The dates for the CBC technical programmes such as referees and coaches clinics and the confirmation of the date and venue for the Caribbean Seniors Basketball Championships were part of the agenda of a CBC Annual General Meeting held last Saturday.
    According to an e-mail sent to Stabroek Sport by Secretary General of the CBC, Sabrina Mitchell the meeting held in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles also sought to revise the CBC constitution among other matters.
    McPherson said that the federation would be preparing Guyana's male and female basketball teams for the CBC championships set for Puerto Rico at dates still to be announced.
    Guyana last participated at the CBC championships in 2000 where the country placed third in the male championships held in Barbados.
    Guyana's best performance to date at the regional basketball championships was in 1994 and 1996 respectively. In 1994, the local male team was runners-up in the tournament while in 1996 Guyana's female team carted off the championship trophy.
    The federation says it intends to restore the pride of the national male and female teams at the Caribbean championships while ensuring that it has its hands on all matters relating to basketball in Guyana.


  • VICTORY VALLEY ROYALS:
    ORGANISED 2007 LINDEN SCHOOLS BASKETBALL COMPETITION:
    MORE US INPUTS FOR SCHOOLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
    THIS YEAR'S PREPARATIONS FULLY ADVANCED.
  • By Gary Tim - Mar 27, 2007
    Georgetown (GB):- Just like it did in previous years, Linden's Victory Valley Royals Basketball Club has again applied its unique brand of nifty organisational touches in preparing for the 2007 Linden Senior Schools Basketball Championships. And, similar to previous years, the club anticipates an exciting event this year, "one that will make it the standard by which others are judged".
    This was the repetitive avowal by club co-founder Linden ‘Sancho' Alphonso, each time he invited Chronicle Sport for exclusive peeks at items acquired in the USA for the event. In each of the three instances, Alphonso, who was the female coach for Guyana's lone Caricom Basketball Championships winning team in 1996 in Trinidad, was almost dwarfed by huge assortments of gear, equipment, awards, apparel and miscellaneous items being readied for shipping to Guyana.
    This year, the championships - valued at over G$610,000 - will be run on a round-robin basis over four weeks culminating during the Linden Town Week celebrations in late April. It has absorbed increased donations from several individuals in the USA who were impressed with the efforts of the club and the success of the event, according to Alphonso. They follow the endeavours of last year's sponsors New York's Sybil's Restaurant and Bakery, the Linden United Sports Association (LUSA) and Michael Lam's Home Improvement of Maryland.
    Displaying some of the items, Aphonso said "we have more trophies and awards this year, and even more impressive" this is a huge all weather banner, clothing for players and officials, water pitcher, tent, referee uniforms and other gear, score cards, you name it". He said the Linden club is now working on the logistics and ‘finishing touches' for the event.
    He also elaborated on donors who came on board this year to assist the club with their generous gestures. "From the inception of our planning for this year, these extraordinarily considerate people have been in constant contact and flooded us with aid for our tourney. "Among them are Linden-born US residents, Leon Moe, Orrin Louision and Marlon Josiah. Moe has donated pro-grade balls for the games, the schools and the MVP, as well as the champion team's trophy and replicas. The trophy and replicas for the other school in the final have been presented by Josiah, while Louision donated the 3rd place trophy and replicas
    Alphonso went on to laud Lennox Allicock, Maxie Stephens and Vanessa Davidson who are, also, Guyanese living in the US. He said Allicock brought in the trophy and medals for the 4th place school, whereas Stephens came up in a big way to donate ten (10) trophies which will go for individual awards. Davidson donated the competition shirts for all the schools and the club, while another female, Audrey Amsterdam followed up on her gesture last year and gave the trophy for the championships' MVP.
    Additionally, Shan Henry donated the 8'x4' banner for display at the games and elsewhere. Like last year, the Legendary Printing establishment of South Ozone Park, NY has contributed to the event by shrinking its rates on the printing of the shirts and the banner.
    Another major donation took place on the heels of the previous deeds, when Dayne Griffith teamed up with Moe to present eighteen (18) pairs of the much touted ‘Starbury' basketball sneakers designed after Stephon Marbury - the New York Knicks star pointguard. Griffith, a former resident of the Victory Valley area and now domiciled in the USA, also donated several athletic sweatpants, which like the sneakers will be used by the club's players. "You know what, it not only heartens me that more and more people are interested in helping our youths, but that their donations came out of their own pockets," Alphonso declared, afterwards.
    However, he is peeved over the bottlenecks being faced when shipping materials, stating that his club has had to endure heavy, redundant expenditure that could have been channeled elsewhere. "I cant' see why something to benefit school kids receives such severe measures from authorities." He said people of lesser faith would have quit, saying "you know what" it's not worth it". However, Alphonso assured of his club's commitment and intent on making approaches to reduce these jams.
    The club executive said he wants to recognize the contributions of some persons whom he labeled as "without a doubt, a tower of strength" in conducting the championships. "I know this is still its young stages, but it's this kind of tremendous support we're receiving initially, that will inspire growth year after year." He extolled the inputs of females within the club, and pointed to those of national players Nicola Jacobs and Althea Byass, as well as area resident June Harris.
    The club will pool with the Education Department in the area, the administrative arms of the schools and the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) to conduct the championships. "The department, schools, LABA and the MSC have been very supportive and we are pleased with their efficiency in getting things done." Alphonso also had a word on media coverage, and said he was contented with the reporting of the event last year, but firmly stated that there is room for "more coverage, if only for the students, especially from the national media."
    Last year, the Mackenzie High School won the second lien on the current championship trophy which was donated by a Linden-born New York entrepreneur popularly know as 'Bootooroo'. However, recent word out of the town indicates that this year, solid rivalry will come from the other schools namely, Linden Foundation Secondary, Wis-burg Secondary, Linden Technical Institute, New Silvercity Secondary and 2005 champions Christianburg-Wismar Multilateral.
    Alphonso, who was in Guyana to see last year's event from the semi-finals, noted that the level of competition is admirable and singled out the fact that the multilateral school "went from first to worse." This, he said, was not an indictment on the school's quality of play, but a testimony to the rising standards among all the schools. Previewing this year, he said New Silvercity is the ‘team to watch'. "They have shown remarkable improvements and will be a force in 2007, and I think they are returning most of their players." The defending champions are the exact opposite in this regard.
    The successful former basketball coach observed that, "all over, the schools can improve generally in the fundamentals such as shooting, ball handling skills, dribbling and passing." Exposure, he said, is necessary. "We're lacking big time in exposure for these kids." Alphonso said that with increased purposeful collaboration, the championships can expand considerably and get to some semblance of those he witnesses in the US. Even though, officials and fans grade the championships as "extremely commendable and one of a kind", he doesn't think that one tourney of this magnitude is enough for players at the school level. "This is where you feed the club system, and eventually the national teams, so you've got to take the interest and encourage and mould it from this stage."
    Alphonso said his club is "giving a lot of thought to including other schools in the region's outlying areas," and has already approached the Department of Education with the suggestion. He said the motive for doing the event was to "contribute something to sports development locally, especially among the youths, and this happening around Town Week is more gratifying." "From inception we were impressed with the response, enthusiasm and support we got," he said, adding that that encouraged them to do the tourney annually.
    He opined that they were also buoyed by the presence of President Bharat Jagdeo and other dignitaries at previous events. The club now wants to use the tourney as a channel to fortify that interest and create a resurgence of the game at the junior level.
    "For this tourney, we got help from a lot of people who were never really involved in basketball," Alphonso added, noting that there is a burning need for more facilities, coaching clinics and games to lift the standard of the sport at the school level. A call he's been making for several years. He said he is ready to offer more, and is also desirous of creating coaching programmes for both males and females. "In this regard we're reaching out to get more persons on board to move forward purposefully."
    Simultaneous to crafting the championships, Alphonso had also spread his community development interest to academics by donating a plaque to his alma-mater, Mackenzie High School for presentation to its top three students at CXC exams. The names of the students with the outstanding academic achievements are being inscribed on the plaque over a six year period that commenced in 2005.


  • Georgetown endure mixed fortunes, but win basketball series
  • Kaieteur News, Tuesday, March 27th 2007
    The Georgetown male and female basketball teams received kudos from the President of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), Colonel Godwin McPherson, on Saturday evening after both the male and female teams defeated their Linden counterparts at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in their three game series.
    The tournament, which served as a fundraiser to aid Guyana 's participation in the upcoming CBC Championships scheduled for Puerto Rico in late July, was also aimed at identifying Guyana 's best male and female teams.
    It was also used as a recruiting and assessment playoff to identify eligible players to participate in the CBC event.
    In the female match up, Georgetown defeated Linden for the third time in the tournament 57-35, while the male squad secured a 2-1 victory over their challengers after losing the final match 53-68.
    The city captain, Natasha Alder scored a game high 21 points with 2 assists and 2 steals to earn the MVP of the tournament title.
    In the feature match of the evening, the city side were trounced by the visitors by a fifteen point margin 53-68. Linden 's captain Marvin Hartman led his team with a series of assists and high level of determination. Royston Siland, captain of the city side, was named tournament MVP.
    Col. McPherson, the GABF president, presented the winning trophy to the Georgetown team along with the $100,000 prize money. The females took away $50,000 and a trophy.
    Speaking with Kaieteur Sport, Col. McPherson said that the first two matches displayed professional refereeing, which resulted in quality basketball.
    Col. McPherson said he feels the players were thought discipline on the court based on the level of officiating they received, good refereeing resulted in two games without controversy.


  • GABF/Wildfire Productions Tournament :
    Linden men's team prevents Georgetown clean sweep
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, March 27th 2007
    Linden finally found the chemistry they were searching for in games one and two to prevent a clean sweep in the third game of the male tournament Sunday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
    The mining town easily brushed aside Georgetown 68-53 with less than ten players on the final roster for the game, preventing what would have been an all Georgetown sweep after the female team put Linden away 57-35.
    The Linden female team did not give their fans much to cheer for as Most Valuable Player (MVP), Natasha Alder made light work of their defence ending her campaign with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
    Alder was given support from point guard Rhonda Charles' 12 points and centre Delecia Mayers in the middle with 14 rebounds. Alder and Charles were the brunt of the Georgetown offence throughout the tournament.
    Sonia Rodney was the only female player in double figures for Linden with 13 points. Her male counterparts, Neil Marks, Terrence James and Jason Alonzo had good nights for the male team with 14, 13 and 10 points respectively.
    Royston Siland became the second Courts Pacesetters player to cart off the MVP award in the male event following up on Alder's performance. Courts Pacesetters swept the MVP awards.
    Siland scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Stephon Gillis finally came to the fore in the tournament with 11 points. Linden completely shut down the Georgetown offence in the final game with good defence pressure on the team's 'point' players.
    Georgetown male coach Robert Cadogan said that he would not make any excuses for the loss but said some of the senior players in the team were complacent while the younger ones did not step up to the challenge.
    "Some of the players were complacent, they did not play as they did the other two nights. I expected the young guys to come up with the goods but they didn't," Cadogan said.
    According to the senior coach of the best team in the country, Courts Pacesetters, Linden came with an obvious plan to target Siland, Gillis, Naylon Loncke and Darcel Harris in the game but the other players fell short.
    Cadogan said that the players had a good opportunity to fine-tune their abilities as they head back to their respective clubs to gear up for a Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation national first division club tournament.
    The tournament gets underway this weekend at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. An official launch and release of the game schedule is expected later this week ahead of the national club championships.

  • Linden men pull one back against Georgetown : Women suffer 3-0
  • by Joe Chapman
    THE Linden male team salvaged some pride by winning the third game of the three match series 68-53 against their Georgetown counterparts, but their female players went down for their third straight loss, 51-35, against their city counterparts on Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, when the GT&T Cellink Plus-sponsored Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation/Wild Fire Productions promotional series concluded.
    The Georgetown men won the series 2-1 and the women swept the female series 3-0. In front of a fair-sized crowd the men’s game turned out to be one in which Linden staved off being swept 3-0 after losing the two previous encounters with a solid win after trailing at the end of the first quarter by one point, 16-17, and finishing ahead at halftime 36-33.
    The Linden men played well this time around and maintained their hold at the end of the third quarter, coasting along at 46-35, before polishing off for a 15-point win, 68-53.
    This time forward Neil Marks was outstanding with 14 points and one blocked shot as centre forward Terrence James scored 13 points with eight rebounds and three blocked shots with centre Jason Alonzo playing his way to 10 points seven rebounds three steals and three blocked shots as another centre Nkossi Gurrick netted six points, seven rebounds three assists and one blocked shot.
    Georgetown’s best players were forward Royston Siland, who got 11 points, nine rebounds, five steals and was later named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series; guard Stephan Gillis 11 points with five rebounds; Devon Gordon with nine points six rebounds and shooting guard Naylon Loncke eight points five rebounds and two steals.
    Forward Natasha Alder was the spearhead for the Georgetown women who closed out Linden as she scored 21 points with 16 huge rebounds two steals and two assists.
    The city girls were in control throughout after leading the first quarter 14-1 and at halftime 25-6.
    Through the third quarter Georgetown maintained their grip leading 43-21 and finally 57-35.
    Veteran Rhonda Charles was the next best player for Georgetown with 12 points, four assists and two rebounds as Delicia Meyers had seven points 14 big rebounds two blocked shots and three steals as Lorrie Anderson got seven rebounds four points and two assists.
    For Linden the bright spot was guard Sonia Rodney with 13 points five rebounds and three steals. Forward Althea Byass collected eight points, four rebounds and three steals with Latoya Rodney gaining six rebounds and three steals.


  • Linden need face-saving victory tonight
  • By Faizool Deo
    AFTER losing back-to-back games last week which resulted in Georgetown taking the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation and Wildfire Promotions’ Linden versus Georgetown three-game basketball series, Linden must claim a face-saving victory tonight.
    In the final game at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Linden’s perimeter shooting must click.
    Except for Trevor Proffit (17 points) in game two, no other Linden player has shown consistency with the outside shooting.
    Without Steve Neils Jr who is in Barbados, Marvin Hartman, who shoots the ball really well, must produce more.
    If the shooters perform, it will bring the Georgetown defenders away from the inside force of Jason Alonzo and Nkossi Gurrick who have been double-teamed on occasions in the previous games. Alwayne Wilson also needs to continue his dominance in the forward position for Linden to do well.
    Georgetown obviously will be looking for a clean sweep, and even though they won the two games played, they have failed to conqueror Linden. Game one was a one-point victory 66-65 and game two a three-point victory 67-64.
    Again the bulk of the scoring would be on the shoulders of power forward Royston Siland, who has proved to be one of the better power players of late in Guyana.
    Darcel Harris, the team captain who produces the dynamic moments with the ball would also be crucial for a Georgetown victory. But the depth of Georgetown also encompasses the experience of Stephan Gillis and Naylon Loncke, seasoned campaigners who have delivered in crunch time.
    Players such as Kester Gomes (watered down from a one-time dominant player), Richard Braithwaite, Darren Gordon and the young Carl Jackman must prove themselves at this level. The game would be coupled with the female clash (Georgetown also two-up) and an entertaining halftime show.


  • GABF/Wildfire inter-association three-game series:
    Georgetown dominate Linden in back-to-back games
  • By Edison Jefford - Tuesday, March 20th 2007
    Georgetown, GUY. Georgetown answered all the questions about local basketball superiority last weekend when they dominated Linden in back-to-back games at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in both the male and female competitions of the Guyana Amateur Basketball (GABF)/ Wildfire Productions inter-association three-game series.
    The male team of the Garden City squandered a 20-point lead late in the fourth quarter to eventually register a 66-65 points win in game one Saturday night after the female side had put away Linden 73-65 earlier.
    Both Georgetown teams followed up their victories with a 67-62 triumph in the male event and a 57-48 win in the female tournament Sunday night.
    Point guard Darcel Harris led the way for Georgetown in game one with 12 points and nine rebounds, while captain Royston Siland marshalled his troops with an 18-point performance in game two. Centre Jason Alonzo had 18 points for Linden in game one with support coming from Terrence James's 13 points. Trevor Profitt scored 17 points in game two for Linden, while Alwyn Wilson and Marvin Hartman had 14 and 10 points respectively.
    In the female tournament, forward Natasha Alder scored a career-high 35 points in game one as guard Rhonda Charles ended with 17 points and centre Delicia Mayers 12 points for the Georgetown team.
    Shakelia Sampson put in 23 points for Linden in game