Rose Hall Town Jammers sealed their berth in the final of the Berbice Amateur Basketball Association [BABA] ‘Karibee Rice’ Championship, defeating Fyrish Black Sharks 67-45 on Sunday at the Rose Hall Basketball Court.
Royburn Murray recorded a game high 19 points for the home side, while Mikel Lewis was the next best scorer with 17 points. Kwesi Mickel and Haifa Walters added 11 and eight points respectively.
On the other side, Jamal Felix battled to 17 points, with Tyrone Dey chipping in with 14 points and Garfield Benjamin supporting wth 11 points.
In what started as a cagey and low scoring affair, Rose Hall Town Jammers secured a marginal lead, as the first period ended 9-7.
The visitors responded in a similarly cagey second stanza, outscoring the home side 13-9 to enter the halftime interval in control at 20-18.
However, the host took control of the contest in a high scoring third quarter, netting an impressive 31 points, while holding their opponent to 17 points to lead 49-37.
The fixture was then put to bed in the fourth stanza, as Jammers once again outscored the Black Sharks 18-9.
Meanwhile, coordinator of the event Vibert Garrett disclosed that NA Thunder has been banned for the period of two years following an investigation into the premature end of their group fixture with Ithaca Hardliners clash on September 2nd.
Garrett, who is also the president of the BABA, stated, “The team and the coach has been banned for two years for their action. This was a decision made by the BABA executive following the submission of the incident report.”
The home side, NA Thunders, walked off the court led by their coach, citing poor officiating. At the time of the abrupt end at the NA Court, the visiting unit was firmly in control at 8-0 less than four minutes on the clock.
The genesis of the problem started after the officials and the coordinator indicated to the home side that Shemar France was ineligible to play because he is presently a member of a Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association [GABA] team and thus, cannot play in two different associations at the same time.
Garrett further affirmed, “The ban starts immediately and the team will be informed shortly. They were not present at the meeting of the executive because they are not a registered club under the umbrella of BABA but wanted to be a member and we allowed them to participate in under a probationary status.”
The second semi-final of the five team tournament will be staged on Sunday September 22nd at the Vryman’s Ervin Court, with Canje Knights battling Ithaca Hardliners from 16:00hrs.
Cash incentives and trophies will be awarded to the top two finishers.
