– Pollydore drops 45 points in two games
The Retrieve Raiders and Victory Valley Royals dominated play over the weekend in the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) under-19 championships which got underway last Friday at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court.
Both sides convincingly won their two matches played so far in the tournament, while the Amelia’s Ward Ballers and the Bulls sank to two compelling losses in their games.
It was anticipated that the Amelia’s Jets, Retrieve Raiders and Victory Valley Royals would be the teams to watch since they have most of the talented players in Linden in that division and certainly the forecast by Stabroek Sport was ‘on the button’ as those players lit up the weekend.
On Friday the Raiders showed their well rounded team capability when they edged Kashif and Shanghai Kings 58-51 and the Bulls went down to their rivals, Block 22 Flames who blazed to a 49-54 points upset.
After leading 25-21 at the end of the first half, Raiders gunners Jeffrey La Rose and Deval Wilson made sure that their side remained in the driver’s seat until the final whistle was blown.
La Rose (21) and Wilson (9) combined to score 30 of their team’s total and Quincy Eastman who netted 19 and Sheldron Noel 10 were the two top scorers for the Kings.
When the tournament continued on Saturday ‘butter smooth’ point guard Marlon Pollydore began to leave his mark on the tournament when he led the Royals to a 39 points win (72-33) over the Wismar Pistons.
Pollydore was a cut above the rest of his peers in the game, considering that he is also a regular feature in his club’s senior side.
The 17-year-old New Silver City Secondary School student dropped a game high 20 points after his side sat comfortably in the lead at half time 36-20. Theodore Tappin with 16, Kyle Stewart 14 and Linell Warden 10 were the other primary scorers for the Royals.
Jets playing without their chief and youth basketball standout Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai sunk the Ballers 53 – 22 and that game saw Linden Fraser topping all scorers with 16 points, Jamaal Watson scored 12 and national under-17 high jump champion and record holder Parish Cadogan had ten.
It was certainly not a good weekend for the Ballers since they were further whipped by the Raiders 78 – 29 last Sunday. By half time, the Raiders had held a 21 points (33 – 12) lead over the Ballers and Yannick Primo who scored 28 points was doing the damage.
La Rose had a quiet but yet efficient night, ending with ten points. Only Colwick Benjamin with 12 showed any resistance to the Raiders incursion.
Meanwhile, in game two of the double header Pollydore continued in his destructive ways, this time helping the Royals to embarrass the Bulls 79-29 who also picked up their second consecutive loss.
The Half Mile/One Mile-based team only managed to score a meagre nine points as compared to 37 by the Royals who had Pollydore as their orchestrator and prime finisher and he ended the game with a fiery 25 points.
Stewart who had a crafty 15, Theodore Tappin 11 and Warde ten were the other key players and next highest scorers for the Royals who over the weekend picked up six points to lead their group.
The tournament will continue this weekend.
Group A
Teams Games played Points
Raiders 2 6
Jets 1 3
Ballers 2 2
Kings 1 1
Group B
Teams Games played Points
Royals 2 6
Flames 1 3
Bulls 2 2
Pistons 1 1
