QC, CC, CG, BHS record wins in NSBF Regional Preseason games

…Bowman impressed by parental and school support

The National School Basketball Festival (NSBF) Regional Preseason action continued over the weekend with some highly-anticipated match-ups.

The weekend saw victories for Covent Garden (CG), who continued their unbeaten streak; Queen’s College in the male and female categories; Christ Church (CC) and the Bishops’ High School (BHS).

In game one, Covent Garden Secondary mauled Friendship Secondary 23-6; scoring for Covent Garden were Jonathan Giddings with 13 points and Samuel Innis with six points. The only person to make a difference for Friendship was Amari Harlequin (five points). This victory for Covent Garden means that they are currently undefeated in their preseason games.
In game two, Christ Church pipped North Georgetown 23-17. It was a spirited game with both teams having good support from their schoolmates cheering them on. The close encounter saw Kaomi Huntley of Christ Church leading the charge with 15 points. Gladwyn Brutus of North Georgetown chipped in with nine points in a losing effort.
Queen’s College then duked it out with D-UP Academy of Tuschen in a tournament thriller. As expected, QC, who have one of the best Under-16 teams thus far, turned up the heat and won 38-21. Scoring for QC were Francois Myers (10 points, 10 rebounds); Ezekiel Griffith (10 points) and Oven Hooper (10 points, 8 assists). Chipping in for D-UP Academy were Jaden Moses and Daniel Williams with six points each.

Game four, which was the lone female game, saw QC standing their ground and walking away victoriously 6-2. Marian Academy have been the NSBF female champions for the last three years, but with the team now rebuilding, they lost their footing to QC. Top-scoring for the ladies were Ciara Solomon, Althea Allicock and Alisande Jaiserisingh, who scored two points each for Queen’s, while Angel Ramjaram scored Marian’s two points.
The final game of the night was witness to a back-and-forth encounter between Bishops’ High and Chase Academic Foundation. Both teams before their game were undefeated; however, Bishops’ managed to pip Chase 20-17 to maintain their record and hand their opponents their first loss. Scoring for Bishops were Keyan Mars (9 points, 10 rebounds) and Ayden Dons (7 points), while Paul Emmanuel of Chase Academic Foundation was his side’s leading scorer with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Sharing his bit at the end of the games was Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) co-founder Chris Bowman, who said, “Not much else to add, just that most of the kids are brand new to competition, so they are now finding their footing. Which makes it quite exciting to watch. We are also impressed with the parental and school support for these games, although this is only the preseason; supporters are turning up.”
The NSBF Regional Preseason will continue June 26 in Georgetown, on June 24 in Berbice, and on June 25 in Linden, prior to the start of the NSBF on July 1.