U23 Club Championships: Bounty Colts and Prospect Kobras reap victories

Bounty Colts and Prospect Kobras found themselves in the winners’ circle on Wednesday night when the Guyana Amateur Basketball Association Under-23 Club Championships continued at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
Bounty Colts, with their ability to counter to the basket, remained undefeated against a winless Leonora D-up, with the Colts starting the game on a high to lead the first quarter with the scoreline reading 15-10.
In the second quarter, the Colts continued to convert shots and held on to their lead as their score amounted to 31 points at the end of the quarter, scoring 16 points while Leonora D-up scored 10 points for a total of 20 points.
The Leonora side continued to keep their composure and showed their class, as they managed to minimise the Colts’ lead, netting 17 points while the Colts were restricted to 9 points, with the scoreline reading 40-37 after the third quarter.

Bounty Colts went on to secure the win in the final quarter with a scoreline of 66-54.
Captain Ronoko Vaughn, with support from Carmelo Man-Son-Hing, was pivotal in the offensive attack as they managed to top-score with 13 points.
In a post-match interview with media operatives, Bounty Colts Vice-Captain Domitre Rankin spoke on the key areas of improvement that spurred the win.
“Well, we just needed to tighten up on the defence and our mindset actually, ‘cause coming into the game coming into the game we had a slack mindset pertaining to the team, so I know that we had to lock in and when we locked in was an easy win for us,” Rankin said.
The Prospect Kobras defeated the UG Trojans in the second game of the evening as they handed the Trojans their second straight defeat of the tournament. Using the jump ball to grab an early 13-5 lead, the Trojans set the tempo for the game.
The second quarter of the game saw Kobras showing their ability from the three-point line as they minimised the Trojans’ lead, scoring 15 points to elevate their score to 18 points while the Trojans scored 13 points for a total of 28 at the end of the quarter.
In the third quarter of the game, the Kobras showed their composure turning the game around as they managed to score 18 points, elevating their score to 36 while the Trojans struggled offensively scoring 11 points for a total of 39.
With seconds on the clock, the Kobras pounced on the Trojans and sealed the deal, breaking through their opponents’ defence with the scoreline reading 46-44 in their favour.
In a post-match interview with media operatives, Prospect Kobras Coach Orin Joseph expounded on the challenges and the key elements that led to their success
Joseph explained, “We were down and we believed that we could come back; we just had to stay poised, hold our composure, work our game plan and we know we would have come out victorious. We start lacklustre. That is because of the lack of practices because of the weather, but as we managed to settle down, hold our composure, understand exactly what the other team was doing and we managed to come out successful.”