Williams leads Royals to LABA U-23 Championship

Chris Williams was in ripping form Saturday evening pouring in a game-high 30 points as he led the Victory Valley Royals to a 77-65 points win over the Glands Trucking Service (GTS) Bulls in the final of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) Under-23 basketball tournament at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard-court.

Chris Williams
Chris Williams

The Royals who made it to the final by breaking the crown of the Kashif and Shanghai Kings 67-49 in the semi-finals the night before returned to terrorize the Bulls’ flimsy defence.

From jump-ball the Williams-led Royals game spelled ‘W.I.N.N.E.R.S’ as they controlled both the defensive and offensive end of the floor.

The team from Victory Valley Wismar kept constant pressure on the Bulls and led by 20 points at half-time; 43-23.

Point guard Marlon Pollydore showed that his selection on the Guyana 15 member squad preparing for the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) next month in Suriname was no fluke as he impressed with his staggering crossover dribbles and dish-offs.

In the semi-final he showed that he can put up big numbers as well as he drained in a team-high 20 points against the Kings.

But though he didn’t hit much in the final his stay on the ball was instrumental for the Royals and for Williams to be free and make the shots.

The Bulls on the other hand were completely outplayed and only Michael Turner reached double digits with a fighting 28 points.

Apart from Williams and Pollydore, Alwyn Rodney and Mervin Russell both enjoyed a fruitful game scoring 16 and 15 points respectively.
Meanwhile, in the third place play-off, the Kings were given the trophy after the Amelia’s Ward Ballers entire team was too battered and bruised from their semi-final encounter with the Bulls.

The Ballers and Bulls game went into overtime where the Half Mile-based team emerged out of the rubble by one point (56-55).