TGH Pacesetters opened their Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) ‘King of the Hard Court’ Championship in fine style, crushing Melanie Patriots 103-70 in their Open Divisional matchup on Wednesday.
Travis Burnette and Steffon Gillis led the assault with 21 points at the Burnham Court on Middle and Carmichael streets while Jermaine Hamilton, Michael Turner and Keith Tute contributed 14, 12 and 12 points respectively.
Registering a game high 30 points was Sherlon Legall while the next best scorers were Randy Mingo and Ashton Adams with 13 and 11 points correspondingly. The first period of the fixture would prove to be the closest as Melanie edged Pacesetters by a 16-15 margin.
Legall and Adams were the driving forces behind the interior focused attack as they netted a combined 12 points in the stanza. Legall did the bulk of the scoring with eighth points through layups while Adams netted four in a similar fashion.
On the Georgetown side, ball rotation and movement highlighted their offence as the period was all about veteran sharp shooter Gillis. The former national registered 11 points in the period inclusive of three daggers from behind the arc.
The lead would then exchange hands in the second period as the Georgetown unit outscored their East Coast of Demerara adversary 19-15 to take a 34-31 lead going into the half time interval.
Michael Turner initiated the blitz from the commencement of the period, netting the first seven points for Pacesetters highlighted by a three-pointer at the start of the period and two driving layups.
Gillis also continued his efficient shooting from beyond the arc as he netted eighth points inclusive of two three-pointers and two free throws. Once again Legall led from the front with six points while Dennis Corbin contributed five points for Patriots.
Proving to be an even matchup up until halftime, the pivotal third quarter would effectively end the contest as Pacesetters outshot Patriots 30-14. Burnette was the difference in the period as he registered a whopping 15 points in the stanza by constantly attacking the rim.
Commencing his haul with four points from the free throw line, the nippy guard would net a further four layups and a three-point play to break the back of the East Coast of Demerara outfit.
Chipping in with six points was Turner while second half substitute Hamilton commenced his tally with four points. While it was a low-scoring period for the Patriots, Legall and Seretsi Bascom netted four points each.
The final period would then crown the large win for Pacesetters as they bettered their third quarter showing, netting 39 points in the period. Hamilton and Tute led the way with 10 points each through layups while Williams and Sean Gillis supported with seven points each.
Shouldering the majority of the scoring burden once more for the loser was Legall who netted 12 points through layups and post up play while Mingo registered eighth points.
In the opening u-23 matchup, Colts defeated Knights via walkover. The action is slated to continue today at the same venue with a tripleheader. The opening u-23 fixture at 18:00hrs will pit Eagles against Patriots while Nets will oppose the University of Guyana from 20:00hrs in an Open matchup.
The final match of the night will witness Eagles battling Plaisance Guardian from 22:00 hrs in the Open division.
