The Barbados male and female Under-18 teams stunned the competition in the Antilles 3 on 3 Basketball Championships on Sunday evening to become the 2018 champions.
The Barbadian teams pose with their spoils from copping both championships
Over the weekend, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) had become home to 9 Caribbean countries each vying for the coveted championships; and with the conviction that only one winner could emerge in each category, the teams came out with proverbial guns blazing, as they put their ‘best foot forward’ in order to make their home country proud.
Organised by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) and the International Basketball Foundation (IBF), the event got underway following the leadership seminar that was hosted for the tournament’s participants.
Team Guyana, consisting of Akeem Crandon, Andrew Johnson, Nigel Bowen and Shamar France, had the best showing for the home team; making it to the semifinal round before suffering a bout of tough luck and missing their spot in the final by just two points.
A glimpse of the final action in the male encounter between Barbados and Martinique
Guyana and Barbados had had a ding-dong tussle, with one scoring right after the other. Barbados, however, managed to get away from Guyana with a three-point lead.
Guyana had seen a glimmer of hope when they received two free throws near the expiration of time, but their failure to capitalise resulted in them losing 13-11.
The female final had featured Barbados and defending champions Martinique. Having shown their mettle in a commanding victory over Aruba in the semifinal, Martinique were again confident of taking the gold; but with the odds against them, the Barbadians exhibited enough determination to create an upset. Commanding possession of the ball and scoring, the Barbadians completely frustrated their opponents.
Martinique’s shot accuracy went awry, and they missed one too many chances. Though they came close in the final minute, the Barbadians held on to their lead for an 8-7 win.
The male final looked similar to the female final, with a contest between Barbados and defending champions Martinique.
Martinique’s male team came out like avenging angels looking to redeem their homeland, but they failed in their mission, since Barbados took an early lead in the scoring, and held on to it.
The Bajans were again helped by Martinique’s shot inaccuracy in their most important game. With one minute on the clock, Martinique managed to close the Barbadian 6-point lead to a 10-7 challenge, but their accuracy was again faulty, and they missed key shots that could have handed them the game.
Barbados, however, hit a final two-pointer on the buzzer, to take their victory at 12-7 and pick up gold in the process.
When the proverbial dust had settled, Barbados had managed to cop both male and female most valuable player (MVP) prizes. Alisha Squires was adjudged the female MVP, while male team captain Kiserian Adams was adjudged male MVP.
