Stephon George has been declared the top 3-point shooter and Tavishti Persaud has been declared the best free throw shooter as the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) kicked off their year of activities with a challenge series and skills competition that included schools from throughout the nation on Sunday.
Simeon Sinclair won the skills combined contest, including three-pointing, free throws, and skill challenges.
Meanwhile, the team’s competition segment saw several categories contesting. In the U14 Boys’ segment, Kwakwani managed to outshine Berbice High School, in the U14 Girls’ segment, Kwakwani defeated President’s College, and in the U16 Boys’ segment, Mackenzie High outshone Kwakwani.
The 3 points shooting champion Stephon George collecting his trophy from Co-director of Youth Basketball Guyana, Chris Wayne Bowman
The U18 Final saw buckets on both sides of the court, but Kwakwani came out victorious over Bishops’ High School; and in the U21 Final, Kwakwani conquered UG Trojans.
In an exclusive comment made to Guyana Times Sport, Co-director of Youth Basketball Guyana, Chris Wayne Bowman, in evaluating the tournament, shared that he is grateful for the tournament’s success.
“We are satisfied. We are extremely pleased that the Schools Basketball Season is off to a good start. Of course, one of the measures that we use to evaluate our tournaments naturally is to see the participation at the many different age categories or divisions that we are trying to encourage development, and we have had all those divisions adequately represented at the U14, U16, U18 Girls, and now that we are doing U21,” Bowman said.
He expounded that this tournament allows coaches to evaluate teams ahead of regional competition.
Bowman said, “I think it was a good two–day and a good opportunity for the teams, the schools and the coaches to evaluate where they are in terms of preparation for the Regional Conference, and make the adjustments so that we can have a good rest of the year.”
The two-day event, which bounced off on Saturday, was designed to promote the fundamentals of the game by testing student athletes’ skills in shooting, passing, and dribbling as students begin preparation for the Regional Basketball Championship, which leads into the National School Basketball Festival later this year. (Omar McKenzie)
