LABA tourney resumes tonight

Aug 29, 2008 Sports

–Raiders set to take on Royals

By Edison Jefford
The Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s (LABA) Summer Festival is expected to resume tonight with Victory Valley Royals taking on Alleyne’s Retrieve Raiders in a highly anticipated first round game.

The other preliminary round game of the super–eight contest is set to take place on Sunday at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) court. Both games are the only two remaining in the opening round.

According to the LABA General Secretary, Joe Chapman, the match–up tonight is down for an 8:30pm start with an exhibition game set to bounce off the proceedings. Sunday’s game will follow a similar exposition.

The games were originally scheduled to happen last Wednesday but inclement weather forced their cancellation. The association had hoped that they would have been played over the following days but rain again intervened.

Earlier this week, Chapman had told Kaieteur Sport that tonight was confirmed but not the other dates. However, yesterday he indicated that the dates were ascertained to move the competition forward.

Chapman informed this paper yesterday that the LABA has reserved Saturday for a fund–raising grudge game between Kashif and Shanghai Kings and Courts Pacesetters in aid of Nichola Jacobs at the Sports Club.

The two top teams in Guyana have a longstanding rivalry and are the only winners of the Next Level Entertainment nationwide first division title to–date. Kings won in 2006 and Pacesetters won the following year.

Jacobs is a senior national female basketball player and is expected to wing out next weekend to take up an Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology (ABIIT) scholarship in Antigua.

As a result of the LABA’s weekend calendar of events, the Mining Town will be treated to three nights of basketball entertainment.

Wismar Pistons and Jets await the winners from the two first round games to complete the final four. Pistons eliminated New Ballers and Jets knocked out Glands Trucking Service Bulls on the opening night, last Monday.