As if the jaw dropping sample display of dunks by members of the AND 1 team gripping three-point shootout final on Saturday night were not enough to keep supporters off their feet, Linden and Georgetown basketball fans rose from their seats again in support of their respective teams in a riveting finish to the second of the three-night All-Star weekend.
The night began in Linden’s favor as last year’s defending junior three-point shootout champion, Linden’s Orin Rose, maintained his three-point prowess when he buried shot after shot from three point land in the finals of the competition to the delight of the Linden and even Georgetown fans in attendance.
Rose ensured both the junior and senior three-point shootout titles went back to Linden since, Quincy Jones, who is also from the mining town, dethroned last year’s three-point shootout champion, Stephon Gillis on Friday night to become the new senior three-point shootout champion and not Rose was was reported in yesterday’s issue.
Meanwhile, Elton Jefford Jnr walked away with the title of junior dunk out champion over a field of competitors that barely made enough height to get the ball in the basket. Jefford grabbed the convincing win from a panel of AND 1 judges after leaping over the back of his bent assistant Tyrone Hamid for a one handed jam.
The feature event on the evening’s schedule saw Georgetown retaining the senior All-Star title, but not without a determined all round effort by members of the team. Linden came out with guns blazing and took the fight to Georgetown immediately following jump ball.
Long range shots were the order of business early into the match-up as Georgetown’s Ryan Stephney hit nothing but net from downtown seconds into the game.
However his shot came with not one, but two answers from Linden when Marvin Hartman and Nevin Grenville connected with the inside of the basket shortly after.
Linden quickly accumulated a nine-point lead (19-10) by the end of the first quarter, but Georgetown came back to level the game with both teams on 42 points by the start of the fourth quarter.
The three pointers began to rain once more in the fourth period as the teams traded baskets and if the scores weren’t leveled, only one or two points determined the leader on the scoreboard in most instances during the fourth quarter.
At the end of the game, Georgetown had four players in double figures with Burnett’s 13 points leading the scoring. Gillis contributed 12, Ryan Stephney 11 and Travis Foster 10, while Linden also had four members their team in double figures led by Neils with a game high 18 points, Jones 17, Hartman 14 and Grenville 12.
