Latest update January 6th, 2025 4:00 AM
Cronics smoke impressive group in Albouystown
– Moses, Jefford Pacesetters also advance
By Edison Jefford
This might be the kind of competition for players like Ryan ‘Showtime’ Melville; players, who are largely considered ‘scrubby’ players, but whom also, have a level of finesse to force pundits to take them seriously whenever they consider holding basketball.
A strange, but understandable, phenomenon is developing in the Mackeson Smooth Moves 3-on-3 Basketball Competition that is leading analysts to believe that the best theoretical compositions might not be the best practical teams in the nationwide tournament.
The Independence Boulevard Basketball Court in Albouystown provided what was a near perfect case-study when the tournament continued Wednesday night. The now famous ‘ghetto’ Mecca of local basketball hosted six top teams among hundreds of supporters.
Scores of patrons thronged the court to witness what has easily become the sport’s most lucrative tournament,
Showtime!!! Cronics’s, Ryan ‘Showtime’ Melville releases a fade-away jumper in the paint while Elton Jefford Jr. contests the shot Wednesday nigh in Albouystown.
which brought, as an incentive for the community, the enhancement of the court that is home to the successful Albouystown/Charlestown Inter-Ward team.
On paper, Nets seemed to be the team to beat, boasting Division I players, Pelham Doris, Triston Tulloch and Drumson McCulley, but in reality, their participation in the tournament was quickly reduced to a life-saving battle to secure a place in the second round.
As fate would have it, Nets and Jefford Pacesetters faced-off in a sudden-death shootout to decide who will join Cronics and Moses Pacesetters in the next round. Doris missed his attempt as Elton Jefford Jr. of Jefford’s Pacesetters buried his shot to seal Nets’ coffin.
Nets joined the other big theoretical compositions that exited the competition in the first round. It is no wonder that the floodgates of the inaugural $1m first place prize or trip to the NBA All-Star Final-tournament have been hit wide open. It has become anybody’s tournament.
Cronics proved this fact to be true; Melville, who is known in the streets as a ‘scrubby’ king, was a major part of the offensive plan. Up until their last game, Wednesday night, Cronics had played unbeaten in the group. Nets beat them 21-14 in the final game of the night.
Before the defeat, which gave Nets a lifeline, prior to Doris’s free-throw mess, Cronics won 11-5 against Steelers; 12-6 against Jefford Pacesetters; 7-6 against Bounty Colts ‘C’ following sudden death shootout and 11-9 against Moses Pacesetters to finish with four points.
Melville guarded the ball with his life, literally, dishing the occasional assist to Earl O’Neil in the paint or Joel Loncke on either parameter wings. Melville understood his role and was happy with dismantling the opposing defence with his usual smooth Showtime moves.
Moses Pacesetters was another of the easy qualifiers in the group. Reyon Cummings’ shooting is one of the reasons the team is through to the next round. Cummings lit up the Albouystown Court in a classical display of sharp-shooting that also handed his team four wins.
Moses Pacesetters defeated Nets 10-9; Bounty Colts ‘C’ 17-10; Steelers 21-15 before one of the showdowns of the night went down against club-mates, Jefford Pacesetters. Moses Pacesetters eventually won 18-17 in sudden-death shootout after the game was tied on 17 points in regular time.
Jermaine Hamilton had equalised for Jefford Pacesetters after Derwin George scored to bring the team within one-point of Moses Pacesetters with 10 seconds left in regulation time. Hamilton put his team in contention for the win, but Jefford missed the team’s sudden-death free-throw attempt to lose the game.
Jefford made up for the blunder in the do-or-die shootout situation against Nets when the former junior national player buried his attempt to send Nets packing. Jefford Pacesetters had won 16-9 against Bounty Colts ‘C’; 21-14 against Steelers and 12-11 versus Nets.
The three teams that advanced from the group included Cronics, Moses Pacesetters and Jefford Pacesetters while in Linden, Unknowns and Jets reached the next round. The competition will be continuing in Linden today and Georgetown tomorrow at the Burnham Basketball Court.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Jagdeo is a liability to Irfaan Ali
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Bharrat Jagdeo has long represented an unsettling paradox in Guyana’s politics. He... more
Forget Begging Rich Nations: Caribbean Countries Should Act to Save Themselves
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- It has long been evident that the world’s richest nations, especially those responsible... more
Weekend Cartoon
