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Kings look to defend crown against Falcons as Jets take on Raiders
It is down to the last four of the Trophy Stall Regulation Open Basketball championship where the finalists will be decided after the semifinals tonight as the top seed, Kings, take on Bankers Trust Falcons in the second game at 9:30pm, while Amelia’s Ward Jets, the second ranked club in Linden, battle the Retrieve Raiders in the first match at7:30pm.
The first game pits Jets, who like Raiders, had four wins and two losses, but when they met head-to-head the Jets prevailed over the Raiders 70-63. In that win Jets inside duo of Shane Webster and Allister Webster punished their opponents for 31 points as Allister led with 16 and Shane 15. This combination has been the deadly force for the Jets as Shane has 94 points for an average of 15.6 points per game and Allister with 52 averages 8.6 per game. Shane and Allister have their captain Kevin Joseph, who while not being at his best, has the experience to guide them along the way.
Neil Marks
Shane Webster
The Raiders will be without their leading scorer Neil Marks, the national shooting forward who has injured his right hand and is out for a long while. He is their leader having a game high 25 points in one of the four games he played while scoring 52 points for a tournament high average of 18 points per game, as he missed their last two games. No other Raiders player at present has shown the inclination to be a consistent scorer like Marks and the next best is guard Sheldron Noel who has 44 points for an average of 7.3 per game. Also missing will be young centre Omar Sam who has an ankle injury and this is another big blow for a team already without national centre Dwayne Roberts.
Forward Nicky Barnes therefore has to step up while Yannick Primo has not been consistent either.
The other game should be of interest also where the Kings, after looking shaky, have come back into the reckoning. They were the fourth team to make it but look like the contender with a solid chance of making it to the final. However, their national captain Steven Neils must reach his best form if they are to win as is the scoring of Orin Rose at this point. The experienced Marvin Hartman has shown the resilience needed to win, but has not been as sharp as before. Neils had a tournament high 22 points in their last game and Rose added 17 but they are far from their best. Neils has 56 points for an average of 11.2 and Rose 54 for an average of 9 points per game. Their inside scoring is dependent on centre/forward Omally Sampson who has 39 points and averages 9.75 points per game, a similar record held by former junior national captain guard Marvin Hartman with 39 points also.
The Kings experience in addition to past national player Abdulla Hamid’s influence must be in full nick if they are to beat this Falcons side which defeated them earlier 47-42. Falcons’ best player has been power forward Lawrence DaCosta with 77 points and an average of 12.8 per game and guard Leonard Caleb has stepped up to the plate for 70 points as he averages 11.6 per game, while former junior national Dale Sauers, the point guard, who began well, must regain his form as his scoring has dipped, while he has scored 32 points with an average of 6 points per game.
Taking all this into account there is no room for mistakes and it is win or go home tonight in this year’s semifinal of the Trophy Stall Regulation Open basketball championship at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard court.
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