North Ruimveldt stumbles at ultimate challenge

Jun 16, 2009 Sports

All-Stars illuminate Sports Hall

By Edison Jefford
It was built as the ultimate challenge for current Inter-Ward basketball champions, North Ruimveldt after all the tenets for a gruelling display became evident at the Cliff Anderson Sport Hall before a capacity crowd Saturday night.
The venue was illuminated, famous personalities were present and the atmosphere had all the prerequisites of an All-Star, Showtime event, as Fusion Sound Company kept fans in frenzy throughout the entertaining basketball game.
North was thrown a challenge against an Inter-Ward All-Star team after they successfully defended their title in the regular competition. It was a challenge they accepted and lost in the fourth quarter after dominating the first half.
North went under 70-55 in a grossly defensive encounter that enriched the All-Stars, who won $100,000 for the single game. North had pocketed $500,000 after they emphatically reclaimed the Inter-Ward Championship trophy.
Steve Neils Jr. led the All-Stars in scoring with 13 points, while Ryan Gullen added nine points for the next best individual score. Travis Burnette and Royston Siland had eight points each in the collective offensive effort.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament, Andrew ‘Mr Dunk’ Ifill scored 19 and also grabbed 12 rebounds to continue his prolific scoring, while North’s guest player from Linden, Quincy Jones had 10 points.
The game was an equal encounter from the first whistle with North taking the early edge on offence despite an obvious ‘big’ presence in the middle with the likes of Jason Alonzo and the more aggressive Dwayne ‘Sugar’ Roberts.
North was forced to shoot the ball at a high percentage, which they did with much success and forced the All-Stars out of their defensive zone. North took the All-Stars apart with a few clinical ‘one-on-one’ jumpers that ripped the net.
Ifill was the primary entertainer after he manoeuvred his way into the paint, elevated and powered home a dunk in the faces of the ‘big men’. The move added to the Showtime of the event that was unmatched in recent times.
The Neils and Darcel Harris ‘head-to-head’ was as good a showdown at point guard that could be found in Guyana, similarly the match-up at the forward and centre positions. It was basketball at its best and the fans were aware.

North played through the first half with the confidence of a championship team.
They had 35-30 lead at halftime, as All-Stars’ defence and offence slumped. It was clear that the team needed time to adjust to each other’s game.
That time was the first half and the All-Stars came out in the third quarter assured of their various roles as Neils and Burnette sealed the top with a few steals that were immediately dished to the forwards in transition for a surge.
At the end of the third period the All-Stars had a 49-44 points lead. Their coaches Dereck Alphonso and Naylon Loncke went for a defensive choice in the first five minutes of the final period and the tactic paid dividends.
North struggled to get close to the hoop and the All-Stars took advantage of the creases in their defence. Gullen’s dunk off a past from Neils repeated the first quarter excitement that Ifill’s dunk created. It was a savage finish.
The All-Stars showed why they were the best players in the 2009 Inter-Ward competition when they treated fans to three minutes of Showtime basketball. They outscore North 21-9 in the quarter to secure an emphatic victory.

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