Rose leads LTI to second NSBF U-19 title

Jul 07, 2009 Sports

Marian left empty handed

ONCE AGAIN!!! Kwakwani Secondary celebrate their NSBF U-17 triumph with officials from Digicel at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Sunday night.

By Edison Jefford
A few enthusiasts ran around the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with plaque cards that read “Welcome to the Orin Rose Show” and as it turned out, the famed local arena became a theatre for the quality shooting guard from Linden.
Rose’s performance landed him the Most Valuable Player award in the National Schools Basketball Festival’s (NSBF) Under-19 final after he scored a whopping 41 points to lead the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) to its second title.
The act was overwhelming to propel LTI to an 87-79 points win over the Government Technical Institute (GTI). Keron Johnson and Jermaine Douglas played minor roles in the episode for LTI with 14 and 11 points respectively.
From the beginning of the featured game Sunday night, it was clear that the battle was a junior national exhibition between Rose and former counterpart, Shelroy Thomas, who played for the opposing GTI in the final.
Thomas exceeded Rose’s scoring with 43 points and had support from Clive Wilson and Darrion Lewis with 18 and 15 points in that order. The burden of complete offensive duty became too much for Thomas to bear alone.

The former Kwakwani Secondary player sucked on his bib several times in the last half in a clear sign of waning fitness. Thomas needed more help but could not rely on the poor finishing levels of his unexposed GTI team-mates.
Rose led LTI to a 6-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game, but Thomas responded with back-to-back lay-ups and a jumper that gave the Georgetown-based GTI an 11-7 lead before the game got interesting.
Wilson landed a jumper that took GTI up 15-8 and the offensive potency of Rose became obvious when he made two finishes and gave an assist to Johnson to haul LTI to within one (17-16) of an initially energetic GTI line-up.
Rose scored two free shots and then a huge three-point jumper to put his LTI team up 21-17 with 10 minutes remaining in the half. Rose and Johnson extended their schools’ lead with three-point plays that questioned GTI’s defence.
However, GTI remained persistent and their star guard, Thomas sneaked some fast break plays to eventually tie the game up at 36, with two minutes left in the first half. The period ended 40-38 in favour of the Georgetown unit.

TWO IN A ROW!!! Banks DIH's Carlton Joao (standing right ) and Director of Sport, Neil Kumar (standing, second left) share the moment with LTI, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Sunday night.

The Rose and Thomas’ offensive dominance continued in the second half as both teams traded points. Lewis made consecutive lay-ups to bring GTI to within six (64-58) after LTI had taken a 64-54 points’ lead.
Another jumper from Rose and an assist helped LTI to another 10-point lead on 68-58 before the Kashif and Shanghai Kings Division One player extended his performance with a reverse finish that impressed enthusiasts.

With seven minutes to play in the last half, Thomas nailed a three-point jumper that kept GTI in the hunt. However, the Georgetown-based team’s failure to convert possessions in the last five minutes helped LTI to an 81-68 points lead.
In the dying seconds of the game, Thomas had a few last gasp plays but his charges could not rise to Linden’s challenge. Thomas took home the ‘Best Assist’ and ‘Best Defence’ individual awards, while Rose also got ‘Best Scorer’.
Meanwhile, Marian Academy went home empty handed after losses in both the Under-15 and Under-17 finals of the tournament. Marian went down to Cummings Lodge 41-20 in the Under-15 game and 76-44 to Kwakwani Secondary in the Under-17 battle.
Kevon Hyles scored 13 points for Cummings Lodge in the U-15 contest, while Brandon Bento scored six points for Marian. Dominique Douglas had 35 points, while Dave Plass had 23 for Kwakwani as Tequain Vieira and Selvaughn Moseley scored 20 and 11 points respectively for Marian in the U-17 game.
Banks DIH through its Sprite brand, Edward B. Beharry Co. Ltd., Giftland OfficeMax and Digicel were among the major sponsors of the mega event that lasted nine days and will act as a catalyst for Inter-Guiana Games’ selection.

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