Latest update August 4th, 2026 12:30 AM
Clinical Kanhai fuels Jets to LABA U-19 Final
Raiders out Flames to set up riveting encounter
By Edison Jefford
Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai was not prepared to allow the best junior basketball players in Linden to be on the biggest stage in their community and he is not among them. It was something that he was going to prevent at all cost.
And he did it clinically; he ensured that he will play in the Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s (LABA) Under-19 Final on Saturday when he fuelled Amelia’s Ward Jets to a 54-44 points’ win against Victory Valley Royals.
Defence!!! Akeem 'The Dream' Kanhai left helps on defence as Royals' centre in trapped at the MSC Court Monday night.
The national junior basketball captain scored 20 points, almost half of them from the free throw line, to top his team’s individual scores Monday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club’s Basketball Hard Court in Linden.
Kanhai’s assistance came largely from Parish Cadogan, who scored 10 points and Marlon Persaud, who had nine points. His swingman role (someone who plays all five positions) was extremely effective for his team in the important game.
For Royals, Theodore Tappin led with 21 points while Linnell Wardron scored 10 points and Marlon Pollydore nine points. Royals will play Block 22 Flames for third place after Retrieve Raiders soaked them in the other semi-final.
Raiders out the Flames with a 55-36 points’ win with Jeffrey LaRose putting up 21 points and Yannick Primo 15 points for the winners. Remington Wade had the highest score for Flames with 13 points in a losing effort.
It was obvious that the tactic was to out-mark Kanhai, who was consistently doubled and tripled teamed on offence. The tactic, however, backfired because Kanhai was often fouled and he shot a very high percentage of free throws.
The two teams exchanged points and Jets held on to a 15-13 points lead at the end of the first quarter, which they maintained until they went up 23-19 midway through the second period of the intense and intermittently entertaining game.
Royals cut a four-point lead to two in the final minute of the game before Kanhai landed a big three-point jumper the give his team a five point advantage (30-25) at halftime after the Jets’ offensive engine increased its momentum.
Wardon finished a classical up-and-under fake move and the momentum shifted back to Royals, but that was short-lived because the defensive concentration on Kanhai often left Cadogan open for easy plays in the paint.
Though his individual score did not reflect the attempts he took, Cadogan basically had a field day offensively as Jets maintained a 37-31 points’ lead before Cadogan extended that with an old-fashioned finger-roll in the lane.
The game was slowly but surely slipping away from Royals as they searched for ways to stop points from bleeding while also maintaining consistent offence. They briefly found a fast break tactic with Pollydore in the fourth quarter.
The technique hauled them to within five (45-40) in the middle of the last period but that was the closest they would come to reaching the final. Jets upped their defence and protected the basketball for the easy win down the homestretch.
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