Georgetown dominated the first night of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Federation’s Inter Sub-Association Senior and U-20 Championships Sunday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, recording mammoth victories against their New Amsterdam and Linden Association counterparts by a combined margin of 53 points.
In the featured game of the evening the Georgetown (GT) under-20 squad, equipped with most of the players from the victorious 2007 Inter-Guiana team, destroyed Linden’s under-20 team 94-63.
GT coach Julian Haynes told Stabroek Sport before the game: “I know the team will hold their own on the offensive end and what we will do on defence is switch between the man-to-man defence and the two-three zone early to get them out of the game and I trust the guys to go out there and execute.”
Just as planned, the GT junior ballers executed and enjoyed a well-rounded offensive contribution as five of their players reached double-digits on the scoring sheet.
The double-digit point totals came from Travis Burnett who had a game high of 25, Tyrone Hamid whose 16 points included two-consecutive three-pointers and numerous put-backs, Marlon Chesney who turned-on in the second half to add 15 and Jermaine Slater who banged his body in the low post for 11 points.
The fifth top scorer was Kevin Evans who added 12 points, energizing his team and the relatively large crowd at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall when he rocked the rim with two fast-break dunks.
Georgetown’s victory was because of the dominance established in the first half when they outscored Linden 52-18.
In the second half Linden’s Javon Nelson who scored 17 and timid point guard Akeem Kanhai who added 22, started to show some much-needed aggression, resulting in them edging GT in the second half 45-42.
Meanwhile in the senior match, GT defeated the New Amsterdam (NA) Association 77-55.
Georgetown got out to an early lead and led by 17 points at the half as they got much of their offence from Ryan ‘Cornmeal’ Gullen who ended with nine points in the low post and shooting guard Stephon Gillis.
In the second half, Gillis who finished with a game high of 25 points, realised the commanding position of his team and got fearless from behind the arch. Gillis drained three-pointer after three-pointer, finishing with a mini forest of six three pointers on the night.
NA’s Carlos Crandon tried to match Gillis’s performance and netted five three-pointers of his own, ending with a team high of 19 points, while point guard Hugh Arthur added 11.
Making the Stabroek Sport Play of the Night was Jarrel Alleyne who leaped out of the building among three of the GT defenders and stuffed it in the face of Gullen. Alleyne managed only six points in his team’s loss but will be remembered for getting everyone out of their seats in disbelief at the massive vertical of this five-footer.
