As the North Ruimveldt Ravens and Victory Valley Royals square off for supremacy, spectators will see a rerun of the Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF) National and International Tournament Playoff at its Elite 16 Knockout Basketball tournament final on Saturday, November 30, at the National Gymnasium.
In semifinal action, the Kwakwani Untouchables saw their powerful season end in the night’s final game. The Victory Valley Royals, with their emphatic performance and ability to make penetrative passes, dominated from the jump ball, attaining a 25-20 lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Royals continued to showcase their shooting ability and passive plays. The scoreline read 50-40 at the end of that period.
With the Royals enjoying a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter, they appeared to be on course for a win, but the determined Untouchables managed to level the score at 68 points, led by Domair Gladstone as they put the ball through the nets for 28 points while the Royals scored 18 points.
A spirited performance from Royals orchestrated by scoring architect Harold Adams saw them sending the Kwakwani Untouchables back to their community on the losing side of the table as they secured a twelve-point victory with the scoreline reading 102-90.
North Ruimveldt Ravens’ Jude Corlette with a defensive block against Stabroek Eagles
With 48 points, Adams led the Royals’ offensive attack and received support from Orland Glasgow with 22 points and Captain Yannick Tappin with 17 points. On the losing side, Domair Gladstone, with his shot- taking, bucketed 33 points and Kelon Phillips 19 points.
The winning Captain disclosed that adjustments were made in the timeouts to be victorious after a rough start and defensive was the style of play the team enforced.
Tappin said “First, I’m very grateful for this great victory. We came out tonight to play great defence and then offensively follow shortly. We had a rough start, but in the end, we pulled through. Key defence, being slack non-defence. We made some adjustments in the timeout. We adjusted and came out victorious.”
In the other semi, a rerun of the One Guyana Premier League Finals saw once again North Ruimveldt Ravens coming out on the winning side against Stabroek Eagles despite the Eagles attaining a major advantage as the first half ended with the scoreline reading 21-10.
The second quarter saw the Ravens again showing their ability to never give up as they started their comeback; they scored 16 points in that session to elevate their score to 26 points, while the Eagles scored 15 points to take their total to 36 at the end of that quarter.
Third-quarter action saw the North Ruimveldt outfit keeping their composure as they erased the Eagles’ lead. As the Ravens managed to come out on top of proceedings, they scored 32 points elevating their score to 58 while their opponents were restricted to 13 points and their total points to 49 at the end of the quarter.
With a three-point shot being the separation, the North Ruimveldt Ravens pounced on Stabroek Eagles as they packed their bags and booked their tickets to the final with the scoreline reading 84-81.
In his first season, Nikkloi Smith spearheaded the Ravens’ offensive attack with 21 points, assisted by Captain Dominic Vincente with 19 points and Shamar Huntley with 17. On the other side, Zion Gray scored 22 points with his clutch baskets and Michael Turner scored 19.
Captain Vincente, in a post-match interview, emphasised how they focused on togetherness in the second half to secure the win.
Vincente said: “Oh, this performance was a whole team work. We had to get it together defensively first before we come out victorious. We came out complacent the first half, and we know that; we held each other accountable, so because of that, we got it together in the second half, we played as a team, and we got the win.”
The team emerging as champion in the battle of the elites will earn a winner’s purse of $300,000. The team finishing in second place would earn $100,000, while the third-placed team would earn $50,000, and the tournament’s MVP would be awarded $25,000. (Omar McKenzie)
