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Inter-Ward All-Star game on
By Edison Jefford
North Ruimveldt have already proven to be a dynasty with its second consecutive title in the Inter-Ward Basketball Championship, after four final appearances but an ultimate and riveting challenge remains in the 2009 event.
Royston Siland
Dwayne Roberts
North has to prove that they are worthy of Hall of Fame status when they face an All-Star composition from the recently held HJTV and Lens Craft Inter-Ward contest on Saturday at the renowned Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
It’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings and with already $500,000 in the bag, North could add to their fortune if they are able to topple the very well crafted All-Star team that Naylon Loncke will coach and manage for the game.
The Inter-Ward All-Star team includes ‘big men’ Dwayne ‘Sugar’ Roberts, Vivian Alder, Royston Siland and Jason Alonzo. They represented Albouystown, East Coast, Kitty and Wortmanville during the Inter-Ward competition.
The small and power forwards identified are Kevin Lawrence, Ryan Gullen and Sherwin ‘Paxon’ Roberts from the Kitty, East Coast and South Ruimveldt teams. They are former national junior players, who rose to early stardom.
Jason Alonzo
Steffon Gillis
The point and shooting guards named comprise Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune, Stephon Gillis, Travis Burnette, Trevor Smith and Steve Neils Jr., who represented the East Bank, East Coast, Charlestown and South Ruimveldt teams.
North has added the reggae hype jargon ‘to the world’ to their official name. The slang is usually used to promote confidence and dominance. Darcel Harris embodied those traits when he spoke to Kaieteur Sport yesterday.
The North Ruimveldt captain was adamant that they will overcome the All-Stars when he made it clear that “North is ‘to the world’ and we are not intimidated by the team. We are aware of what we have to do,” Harris indicated.
The national point guard continued the tradition of swagger associated with ‘prove-point’ games with his open challenge. “They are no position in basketball that North will not be able to match – they [All-Stars] have to match us,” he said.
Harris is of the opinion that North had the best combination in the Inter-Ward tournament and perhaps the best in Guyana. “We have the best talent in the country. We have nothing to fear because we can slow them down,” Harris declared.
The All-Stars Coach, Loncke, who played for Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust in the final of Inter-Ward Competition last weekend, was responsible and cautious with his responses in a telephone interview with this newspaper yesterday.
“We have a good team. I have good guards to hold the top together, which was a worry to me,” Loncke said, after identifying Jacob Lowe as one of his choices to defend Stephney, but Lowe did not make the final All-Stars team.
It seems as though Loncke knows that he will have a problem with Stephney’s quickness and would have gone for Lowe. He said that he is comfortable with his ‘big men’ choices because of their known reputation in local basketball.
“I have the two best inside defenders in the country with Roberts and Siland. That is why my plan will be mostly defensive, because North is an offensive team. They have an open court game that zone defence can stop,” Loncke stated.
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) are proud sponsors of the game through its Instant Messaging (IM) Service. The telephone giants will outfit ‘North to the world’, as they would rather be called on Saturday.
Giftland OfficeMax sponsored the All-Star team, who were asked to be at the Sports Hall tonight for 7pm for their first training session. The Inter-Ward Basketball and All-Star Award Ceremony will immediately follow the game.
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