You might not want to miss it. In case you have not been to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall to support your community team, you get a second chance tonight.
For those who have not been following the competition closely, the preliminary round (or the fun and games) of the National Community Basketball League (NCBL) is over. As they say, it’s down to business.
The business, begins tonight from 7pm at the CASH with the first quarterfinal match-up.
Eight teams remain in the upgraded version of what use to be called the inter-ward championships and it is now do-or-die time for the remaining teams in the tournament.
The eight remaining teams/communities that will vie for the prestigious and revamped championship are Wismar, Western Union Central Mackenzie, Lodge/Meadowbrook, North Ruimveldt, McDoom/Diamond, Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust, Western Union V-Lust/Plaisance and Kwakwani.
Tonight’s matches will showcase the youth versus experience matchup as the young guns of Wismar clash with the wise heads of Lodge/Meadowbrook.
Lodge/Meadowbrook to date has played undefeated so far in the tournament.
They have disposed of defending champions Albouystown/Charlestown while also defeating the powerhouse team of V-Lust/Plaisance during the preliminary stages and are strong favourites to walk away with the championship.
Boasting players such as Pelham Doris, Darian Lewis, Drumson Macullay and Fabian Johnson (the latter two being two of the best rebounders in the tournament) it is easy to see why they are heavy favourites as those players dominate with their physical play and ability to control the glass.
Wismar will rely on their handful of young players and their skills in an effort to overcome the tough task facing them.
Being a relatively small team in size, Wismar will definitely need to push the tempo of the game if they are to advance to the next round.
They will need Chris Williams to come alive with his three ball while Marlon Pollydore and Michael Turner will definitely have to try and breakdown the size of Lodge/Meadowbrook with their speed and ball handling skills in order to pull off what might be called an upset.
The supporting game should be an appetizer for the feature match as the senior national female team will take on the junior national female team in a best-of-three series.
The senior females, who are hot off a tournament win in Antigua one month ago, will look to continue their red-hot play against the junior side.
They will have to relinquish three of their team members who are also members of the junior female team but will still have Natasha Adler, Sonia Rodney, Tameka Joseph and Nicola Jacobs who will need to come up big if the seniors are to come out victorious.
The juniors will look to their six foot two inches tall centre, Jennel Ifill, Tamera Hunter and Kadiann Rowe for meaningful productions in an effort to cut down their senior counterparts.
So, an exciting night of NCBL action is anticipated and the organizers believe that the tournament is just getting interesting.
Tip off time is 7pm and you should be there.
