The Mackeson Super Ward Basketball Championships continued last night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with a thrilling feature game between Central Mackenzie and Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust with scores 67-58 in Mackenzie’s favour at the final buzzer.
The teams traded baskets for the first three quarters and Wortmanville/ Werk-en-Rust defence combated the strong offensive Mackenzie line-up as the scores were tied on 51 points early in the fourth quarter. But the Wortmanville/ Werk-en-Rust line-up found themselves mostly ball watching in the final minutes as the Mackenzie forwards took it to the hole on many occasions and secured a nine-point win.
Mackenzie’s Steve Neils, who is known for his skillful offence at the local and national level, racked up 22 points. He was assisted by Odley Alleyne who scored 16 and dominated the paint with 19 rebounds.
Wortmanville’s senior national player Neilon Loncke did not go unnoticed as he dropped field goals from all ranges to accumulate 26 points.
Prior to that in the night’s opening game, East Coast drastically limited their chances of advancing to the next round when they lost their second game in succession, crumbling to Kitty/Campbellville 62-71.
Shooting guard Hodayah Stewart continued where he left off at the club league with another impressive performance as he netted 27 points for the Kitty/Campbellville side.
A well-rounded performance from Stephon Gillis who contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds in the East Coast counter was not enough, even with the assistance of Quacie Newton’s 20 points.
Following that game New Amsterdam’s leading basketball players contested the Christianburg powerhouse and faltered by 19 points in the process.
Trevor Profit scored 23 points and displayed good ball control at the top of the key, while the dominant inside force of Quincy Jones assisted with 18 for Christianburg.
Even as Randy Caesar sunk 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as he manoeuvered around the Christianburg defenders in the post, New Amsterdam could not deliver enough to beat the Linden squad.
Carlos Crandon aided New Amsterdam’s fight with 16 points.
Tonight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, East Bank will contest South Ruimveldt from 7 pm followed by Kitty-Campbellville going head-to-head with North Ruimveldt at 9 pm. (Floyd Christie)
