Ravens, Pacesetters on First ‘D’ collision course

Nov 29, 2009 Sports

Georgetown’s top seeds show clear superiority

Travis Burnett

Hugh Arthur

By Edison Jefford
Courts Pacesetters ensured that their qualification for tonight’s First Division final was an automatic decision when the number one ranked Georgetown club defended against those threats of the Beepat’s Scorpions Friday night.
Pacesetters needed to surpass Pepsi Sonics’ Thursday night’s winning score to avoid final destination too early in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Season Opening First and Third Division tournaments.
They did so emphatically when they crushed scorpion 82-49 in the featured game at Cliff Anderson’s Sports Hall Friday night. The result meant that Pacesetters advanced the final while Sonics played Ravens in a semi-final last night.
Ravens got a bye to the penultimate round after their blow-out win against Eagles, which meant that they awaited the lowest scoring winner from the two second round games with the highest scorer (Pacesetters) earning a final ticket.
A win for Ravens against Sonics will put both of the number one and two ranked clubs in Georgetown, Pacesetters and Ravens, on a collision course.
Both finals are expected to be on the cards tonight in the inaugural competition.
Former national junior point guard, Travis Burnett tormented Scorpions’ defence with his lethal offensive game that produced 28 points, which was the highest individual First ‘D’ score to date. It was certainly a MVP performance.
Burnett got support from another former junior national guard, Aubrey Smith, who had a modest 10 points while Hugh Arthur added eight points. It was a changing of the guard at the Sports Hall for Courts Pacesetters in the game.
None of the senior national players including, Stephon Gillis and Royston Siland went to double figures as the new breed took over. The opposition had forward Travis Foster and swingman, Alwyn Bellamy with 11 points each.

Aubrey Smith

“We just lost our focus. We lost but at least we had the time to play as a team. We could only use this as a learning experience. At least the guys know that they have to train to be a winner,” Scorpions’ Coach, Vijay Panday said.
Before the game, Panday had said that it was time that a new set of clubs take over reign in the City. He said that was evident when his club finished ahead of those higher ranked clubs in the Kevin Worrel Memorial tournament.
Meanwhile, Pepsi Sonics defeated newcomer, Melanie Patriots 64-55 to advance to round two of the Third Division competition in the preceding game. Jermaine Reid score 20 for Pepsi while Bevon Spooner and Rawle Duke had 12 each.
Anton Adams and Floyd Arthur were the leading scorers for Patriots with 15 points each as Maxwell Thomas added 13 points. The competition continues tonight with both of the First and Third Division titles at the Sports Hall.