‘Two Feet’ shoots ‘Sugar’-less Albouystown to big win

May 19, 2010 Sports

By Edison Jefford

Albouystown wanted to prove that they can win without ‘Dwayne ‘Sugar’ Roberts, and it took a huge miracle shot from just beyond the half-court mark with 1.6 seconds left in the game to significantly reduce ‘Sugar’s’ importance.

After Steve Neils Jr. tied the game with one of two free throws on the northern end, it did not look favourable for Albouystown heading to overtime. Kevin ‘Two Feet’ Joseph used his experience to maximise a second and six splits.

The pint-sized guest point guard out of Linden raced down the western line and launched his name into the record book after an open look. The big shot burst the bottom of the net and the entire Cliff Anderson Sports Hall erupted with amusement.

The buzzer-beating shot that was worth three points transformed the 58-58 score after the free shot from Neils to 61-58 in favour of Albouystown. It was sweet but yet ‘Sugar’-less reprisal for the Albouystown team on various levels.

Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai scored 14 points and Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune, Nicko Fraser and Alwyn Bellamy had 10 points apiece for Albouystown. Neils scored 16 points while Quincy Jones added nine points for the Celebrities.

‘Sugar’ had opted out of the last game against the tournament Celebrities-a team that was made up of all the outstanding players in the competition. His absence significantly made winning an impossibility in the biggest game of the event.

The forward from Linden, who, could be said, was responsible for building Albouystown’s team into the championship unit that it is, was snubbed for the tournament MVP that was handed to team-mate, Fortune instead.

Roberts was instrumental in getting both ‘Two Feet’ and ‘The Dream’ to join Albouystown for the Mackeson National Super Ward Championship, which proved a perfect combination for the event’s inaugural instalment.

He had also led Albouystown to five consecutive semi-finals of Georgetown’s Inter-ward Championship and based on reports that his team’s management had an input in the MVP decision, ‘Sugar’s’ opinion was that he is not necessary.

‘Sugar’s’ reaction was opting to not play the final game with his team, leaving a huge gap on both the offensive and defensive ends. However, from early indications in the game, it was clear that Albouystown wanted to win without him.

And so it came down to proving a point. First, Albouystown wanted to prove that ‘Sugar’ is not bigger than them by winning without him, and secondly, they wanted to remain the side to beat by going unbeaten even against an All-Star team.

It was well scripted. Albouystown started their campaign aggressively with Bellamy and Fraser obviously taking up the slack of Roberts in the forward positions. They did an excellent job in the opening quarter on defence.

While they were busy protecting the inside on one end, Fortune, Kanhai and Joseph were tormenting the Celebrities on offence. Albouystown looked the superior team that took an unprecedented seven wins on their road to the championship.

They closed the first quarter of the game 16-10, which they extended to 29-26 by the end of the second period even though the Celebrities had started to show the chemistry, which was clearly absent from the first period of the game.

The Celebrities had outscored Albouystown 16-13 in the second period and it was just an ideal statistic to motivate the tournament composition of outstanding players, who handed down a heavy blitz in the penultimate period with Neils firing.

The shooting guard landed back-to-back three-point jumpers with authority, jogging back with his hands still hoisted in the air and cocked like a rattle snake. It was the ‘Showtime’ game and I guess the time for showboating came too soon.

The Celebrities ended the third period ahead 51-39, and it looked as if a blow-out was the likely outcome for Albouystown as they were outscored 25 points to 10 in the period. But the last 10 minutes proved that the game was far from over.

Albouystown played a gruelling five minutes of smothering defence which forced second attempts and gave them offensive runs. The highlight was an up-and-under finish from an ever-improving Kanhai, which narrowed the margin of difference.

As the offensive and defensive battles continued Albouystown took a 58-57 points lead in nine seconds left in regulation, but placed Neils on the line. Neils’ one of two shots took the game to a new level briefly as fouls went back and fourth.

The Celebrities grinded down the nine seconds on their half, and left 1.6 for Albouystown to convert fading hope to triumph. The ball was tossed to ‘Two Feet’, a lethal sharp shooter, who made no mistake after his first clear look.

The half-court buzzer beater started the celebrations that continued on the tarmac of Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Joseph will remember the hoist for all his life. It is his biggest shot to-date in his basketball career that spans both Guyana and Antigua.