Blow-outs were the order of the days.
In three matches of the Guyana Secondary School Basketball Association (GSSBA) league tournament played on Friday and Saturday at the National Gymnasium, each victorious team won by more than 15 points and the margin of victory for one game was over 50 points.
Bishops’ High School defeated St. Stanislaus College 67-12, St. John’s College defeated Trust College 65-15 and Cummings Lodge Secondary defeated School of the Nations 76-31.
It was an offensive explosion of sorts.
Seon Lashley led the way for Bishops’ High with 22 points in their encounter on Saturday.
But it was not all offence for Bishops’ as their defence proved to be utterly effective against the St. Stanislaus team.
Once it got to the fast break, however, the Bishops’ players were untouchable while baseball-like passes found the wide open Lashley in the open court for relatively simple conversions.
Clive Wilson, however, did all the dirty work on the offensive glass, grabbing nine offensive rebounds and finishing the game with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Saints battled throughout the game with problems in their backcourt, as Don Johnson was guilty of 13 turnovers while Jamal Scott could not connect from anywhere on the court.
St. John’s College also gained a blowout. They caught a vulnerable Guyana Education Trust College side and administered a 50-point thrashing, winning 65-15.
St. John’s most experienced ball handler, Keith Tute, dismantled the Trust College defence every time he made his way into the lane and finished with a game-high 24 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Tute also gained some much-needed assistance in the low post from centre Samuel Thompson, who contributed 12 points.After missing three games due to an injury, long distance champion athlete Dennis ‘Crash’ Horatio, returned to the St. John’s College bench and recorded a tournament high of 12 steals to go with his four points and unmatched energy as he raced up and down the court on every possession.
Cummings Lodge had started the blow-out trend when they defeated School of the Nations 76-31 on Friday.
Cummings Lodge received the usual double digit efforts from Keon Hayles and Bevon Spooner, who shot the lights out at the gymnasium and finished with 28 and 25 points respectively to seal Cummings Lodge’s eleventh straight victory.
Also on Friday, St. Rose’s High School defeated St. Stanislaus College 43-28, with Rudolph Daly and Seon Braithwaite each scoring 11 points for the victors. Braithwaite cleaned up on the offensive board and made well on many missed shots from forward Kadeem Jacobs.
St. Rose’s also defeated East Ruimveldt Secondary on Saturday 32-20 with Kadeem Jacobs and Seon Braithwaite each scoring 11 points for St. Roses while Leon Prince led the way with 13 points for East Ruimveldt.
Central High school eased to a 35-19 victory over North Ruimveldt Secondary.
Central depended on the offensive weapons of junior national player Travis Burnett, who ended with 12 points and Dwayne Jacobs who added 10 points.
Curtly English scored all of his team’s 19 points and managed to dazzle the crowd on many occasions when he dribbled the entire Central High school’s side.
Michael Thompson missed a triple-double by one assist when he led Tutorial High to a 56-24 victory over the well-uniformed Brickdam Secondary School squad. Thompson scored 18 points, snatched 19 rebounds and dished out nine assists while Kevin Jordan and Delon Daniels ended with nine points apiece.
Queen’s College defeated Charlestown Secondary School 54-33 on Saturday with Kiev Chesney registering 24 points and nine rebounds while point guard Biniam Norton finished with 15 points six rebounds and four assists.
