By Floyd Christie
The Albouystown-Charles-town Superstars caused an uproar inside the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Saturday night after star shooter Kevin Joseph sank a one-in-a-million shot on the final buzzer to seal a 61-58 win over the Celebrities of the Mackeson National Super Ward Basketball Championship.
The Championships came to a dramatic end after Joseph netted one of the biggest shots in Guyana’s basketball history from way beyond the half court line, over two defenders, with the scores level on 58 and 1.6 seconds on the clock.
The fans in attendance held their breath in suspense as the ball sailed towards the basket and the Albouystown-Charlestown players erupted in jubilation when the ball came out the bottom of the net to give them their eighth consecutive win.
The Albouystown-Charlestown Superstars were playing without one of their stars, Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts, but nevertheless got off to a flying start after shooting their way to an early lead in the first quarter which ended 16-10.
The Celebrities stayed on the heels of the Superstars throughout the second quarter and coming out of halftime they began to step on the gas, performing for the cameras by flashing to the basket for some quick points. Backed by some snappy three pointers from Steve Neils Jr. the Superstars’ slender lead was quickly erased.
Neils Jr. was on fire in the third quarter and seemingly owned all angles beyond the arc as he began dropping long range shots at will. In the process he hit three consecutive shots from outside the arc in the space of a minute and sent his team racing ahead at the end of the third.
However, with their unbeaten reputation on the line, the Albouystown-Charlestown Superstars squeezed a one point lead in the final seconds after taking complete control of the final quarter by only allowing the Celebrities five points until a free throw from Neils Jr. leveled the scores with less than two seconds remaining.
What followed was pure magic and went down in the books as the biggest shot witnessed by many. With enough time to execute one quick play, the fast accurate hands of Joseph erased all thoughts of overtime with his shot from beyond half court after he received the inbounds pass.
A well rounded team performance from the Superstars saw Akeem Kanhai top scoring with 14 points, while Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune, Alwyn Bellamy and Oneca Fraser netted 10 points each.
Neils Jr. led the Celebrities scoring with 16 points which included four baskets from three point range.
Immediately following the game medals and trophies were presented to outstanding players in the tournament including the Most Valuable Player award which was presented to Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune.
