Latest update February 14th, 2025 6:11 AM
Alphonso celebrates birthday with game winning put-back for Guyana
Jordan Alphonso celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday 
with a strong finish at the rim off an inbound pass with 2.2 seconds left in their opening game against Aruba in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Under-16 Championships.
Alphonso gave Guyana a 60-58 win at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in a game they should have easily put away. Guyana had a miserable night at the charity strip, shooting 12 out of 32 free-throw attempts for 37.5 percent from the line.
Alphonso missed nine free-throws for 3 of 12, while Andrew Johnson missed six for 2 of eight, combining for a total of 15 missed free shots. Akeem Crandon was 1 of 5 from the line, which underscored a nervous offensive start to Guyana’s CBC U16 campaign.
Alphonso finished with double-double 17 points and13 rebounds with Kevon Wiggins adding 16 points and 16 rebounds for a double as well and Crandon nine points and 10 rebounds. Guyana’s performance was backed by a boisterous crowd.
With 11.1s left on the clock, Alphonso missed two free-throws that would have put away the game without the drama that unfolded at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, but Aruba’s Geraldo Bryson had different thoughts.
Bryson sank 1 of 2 free-throws to tie the game at 58 before Alphonso’s eventual heroics. Leonardo Winterdal finished with 19 points and Nasir Milton 10 points for Aruba.
Guyana went on a 12-4 run to open the game with a smoothly flowing offence that got the approval of those in attendance. Excellent rebounding and a confident approach were visible for the first five minutes of the game.
Guyana held on to a 17-13 first quarter lead, but it was obvious that their early chemistry had disappeared as constant turnovers stagnated their offense with shot clock violations and last seconds heave to beat the clock became regular features.
Aruba’s stellar full court press defence and traps forced Guyana into some bad passes, which handed them easy transition points. The visitors’ strong second quarter was punctuated with a game-tying three-point jumper to end the first half 30-30.
The third quarter for both teams was a struggle with defence playing a major part of the period that saw neither teams scoring in double digits for the quarter. Guyana, nevertheless, went into the final period with a 39-36 lead.
The fourth quarter started with both teams trading threes, but it was Guyana’s courage to show grit in the end that got them one step closer to the CBC U16 title.
Meanwhile, in other results, Bahamas downed Antigua 109-71 with D. Bridgewater scoring 16 points for Bahamas and D. Thompson 14 points. S. Hunter ended with 12 points. J. Cornish, D. Jennings and C. Johnson had 11 points apiece while M. Cartwright had 10 points.
A. Greer led the Antiguans in the loss with 20 points while L. Weeks had 19 points. E. Joseph also contributed 14 points.
Barbados came back from a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to top the British Virgin Islands (BVI) 64-61 in the second game of the Championship. Zachary Moore top scored for Barbados with 13 points while Rasheed Maynard scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth. Makaari Jones had 12 points and Kiserian Adams 11 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Scoring for BVI came from Elain O’Neal with 15 points and Kiandre Clarke with 10 points.
Jamaica pulled off an 80-67 come-from-behind overtime win. Sheveron Williams dropped a game high 32 points to go along with 23 rebounds while Jalen Menzies put on a show with crossovers that threw down his defenders. Menzies finished with 28 points while Jabari Cunningham had 10 points in the win.
Keatan Weibolt top scored for Suriname with 14 points while Chevaro Kioppenburg was unstoppable in the low post with 13 points. The CBC U16 Championships continues throughout this week at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
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