Inter-ward basketball ...
North Ruimveldt lift Courts Pacesetters trophy
By Leeron Brumell
Guyana Chronicle
February 10, 2004
NORTH Ruimveldt held their nerves Sunday night to take a nail-biting two-point victory over archrivals Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust and claimed the title in the Carib Malta and Courts Pacesetters-sponsored National Inter-ward basketball best of three finals.
North Ruimveldt won 87-85 after trailing 36-41 points at the halfway point of game two in the final.
They won the tournament 2-0 against a team that defeated them in last year’s Georgetown Inter-ward final.
The Ruimveldt boys were effective in shutting down their opponents in the first game on Saturday night, which they won 78-61.
Going into Sunday night’s action North Ruimveldt, comprising a number of experienced national players again went head on with Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust, who found the form that they played with throughout the tournament.
However Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust, after taking the lead at the half, came out again hoping to level the series and take it to game three, but missed a number of free throws and had a few turnovers, which probably cost them the game.
They played hard and fought valiantly but North Ruimveldt were the superior team in this game, depending on their basic basketball skills, experience and nerve, to end the tournament undefeated.
They are now the national Inter-ward champions.
Seasoned player Andrew Ifill led the scoring for North with 18 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, with Aubrey Young also netting 18 points and Damien Liverpool contributing 12 points and 10 rebounds.
For Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust, Royston Siland scored 24 points, had nine rebounds, four assists and steals and one blocked shot, while Neilan Loncke had 16 points and eight rebounds and Jermaine Warde who struggled in the final 15 points, six rebounds and three steals.
At the end of the month-long tournament Ifill was named MVP of the tournament having scored 101 points, 20 assists, 12 steals, eight blocked shots and 73 rebounds. He also picked up the MVP of the final with 50 points, five assists, four steals, nine blocked shots and 20 rebounds.
The player with the most assists was Darcell Harris of North Ruimveldt with 31; most steals Neilan Loncke 33; rebounds, Ifill; best defence and most blocked shots Royston Siland 18. Harris and Loncke were declared joint winners for the most three-point shots.
North Ruimveldt took away the top prize of $150 000, while Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust pocketed $75 000.
The third place went to Albouystown/Charlestown.
Meanwhile, in the opening game of the night, the Georgetown Leo Club beat Red Cross 77-66 points.
Rawle Conway with 37 points and Andrew Sam eight points were the top scorers for their team, while Pablo Cupido had 20 points and Devon Lewis 13 for Red Cross.
The tournament was used as a selection process for a national team to prepare for regional engagements later this year.
According to president of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) Godwin McPherson, the selectors will be looking at the statistics to shortlist a squad to continue in training for the tournaments.
They will be contesting the CARICOM Championships and also will be at home to the DC Jammers of the USA, who are expected here later this year.
Some 16 teams participated in the tournament, which started on January 4, from Georgetown, Linden, West Demerara and the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara.
The tournament organised and coordinated by national coach, Bobby Cadogan, sailed smoothly except for the Central Mackenzie semifinal walkout last weekend.
The attention of the GABF will now turn to the juniors - male and female - to select teams for other junior engagements throughout the year.