Archives May 2017

Fearless Win Under 16 Girls Championship

Everyone loves it when the game goes down to the wire! That’s exactly what happened when the Women of Valor Fearless took met their counterparts, Women of Valor Courage in the finals of the PwC under 16 Girls League title match.  

These young ladies were anything but lady-like when the jump ball took place, making it clear they were all about business and could save the pleasantries until after the final whistle.  The game saw several lead changes and it was unclear as to who was walking away with the crown.  Latoya Brown of the WoV Courage dominated the paint, blocking almost anything that came near her and intimidating her opponents.  Lyandrea Watson was all over the court and all over the stat sheet, doing whatever was required to get her team to victory, scoring, rebounding and also snatching the ball away whenever it came in her vicinity.

But it was the the day when Fearlessness would prove more valiant that Courage as Shante Reid and Zaria Ebanks combined for 25 of their team’s 33 points and led their team to a 1 point victory in the dying seconds of the game! Ebanks and Reid were also most dominant for their teams on the boards, combing for 18 rebounds.   

Final Score: WV Fearless 33 points vs WV Courage 32 points
Winners – Fearless – Zaria Ebanks – 13 PTS, 12 REBS, 1 ST
                                 Shante Reid – 12 PTS, 6 REBS, 3 AS, 5 STS
Losing Team – WV Courage – Latoya Brown – 12 PTS, 11 REBS, 1 ST, 5 BLS
                                                 Lyandrea Watson – 9 PTS, 7 REBS, 2 AS, 6 STS, 1
FINALS MVP – Zaria Ebanks – WV Fearless
Photo Credit: Wil Bignal Photography
Warriors take PwC U-16 Title

Fans could not have asked for a better final.  The two top teams of the highly contested PwC under 16 Boys league – Warriors and Heat – faced off for the 2017 bragging rights.  Both teams came out with a lightning fast pace! Attacking the basket with reckless abandon and playing “in your face” defense.  It was obvious that no team was intimidated by the other and both were hungry for the title. 

The Warriors decided to focus on Heat leader Ian MacRae, limiting his touches and making every basket difficult and highly contested. But his teammates Jabari Walrond and Lauren Brown stepped up to the challenge to carry the team.

The Heat decided to focus on taking Joshua O’Garro out of the picture. Although O’Garro was still scoring, he got into foul trouble early, which forced his Coach John Ebanks to sit him practically the entire 3rd quarter. While O’Garro was on the bench, Joanki Espinar and Shay Lalor rose to the challenge offensively. 

In the end, the Warriors were able to come up with some key defensive stops that allowed them to create a cushion in the final two minutes of the game to seal the championship! 

Warriors – 58 points vs Heat 49 points

Winners – Warriors – Joshua O’Garro – 27 PTS, 8 REBS, 4 AS, 3 ST
                                  Joanki Espinar – 9 PTS, 10 REBS, 4 AS
Losing Team – Heat – Jabari Walrond – 18 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AS, 6 STS
                                    Lauren Brown – 17 PTS, 10 REBS, 2 AS
FINALS MVP – Joshua O’Garro – Warriors
YG Goes Off for 53 and a Triple Double!

Joshua O’Garro a.k.a. “YG” which apparently stands for “Young O’Garro” set a league high and national record as the youngest player to ever score 50 or more points in a men’s league.  The record came at the hands of the Western Union Division 2 men’s team on May 24th as the Juniors came out to prove a point.

The Juniors have a definite game style; high tempo, high octane!  From the start, the Juniors applied a stifling zone defense with lots of pressure on the perimeter, forcing a-lot of early turnovers early and jumping out to a 30 point lead by the end of the first half. It was clear that Western Union could not come back, but Juniors Coach Duran “Trinity” Whittaker told his team not to take their feet off the gas and to respect the game by playing the right way.  So said so done, despite awesome performances by Tereque Simpson who had 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists; and Trevin Williamson who added 23 points and 11 rebounds, YG was the star of the night, lighting up the stat sheet shooting 9 of 13 from 3 point range, 12 of 17 from two point range, adding 10 steals, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.  YG was just 3 assists short of a quadruple double, an achievement held only by his uncle Shaad O’Garro. The 53 point game was also the league high, just edging past the Warriors’ Collin Anglin who scored 49 points earlier this season. 

Final score: 137 – 64

For Western Union: Darrell Paddyfoot led the way with 25 points and a game high 24 rebounds, unstoppable in the paint.  Teammate Daniel Quinland added 19 points in a losing effort

Happy Mother’s Day

The Cayman Islands Basketball Association would like to wish all of the mothers, and especially our basketball moms, a Happy Mother’s Day!!! 

The CIBA Basketball Academy

The CIBA Basketball Academy is a great place for your child to learn how to play basketball as well as build on their current skill set. The Academy takes place throughout the year congruent to the school year and is on Saturday mornings at the First Baptist Christian School Gymnasium.
Age groups are: 7-9 (9-10:00 a.m.)
10-12 (10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.)
13-16 ( 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
Cost – $75.00 Per term
Email academy@caymanbasketball.com for more information.

Islanders Making Waves in 2017

Photo Credit: Wil Bignal Photography

No one saw it coming.  Everyone knows that building a team takes time, especially when most of your players are new to the sport. This was the Islanders in 2016.  They went through the 2016 season without a win, but established themselves as a “take no prisoners”, rough and tough team.  There was one critical ingredient that the team was missing…..EXPERIENCE.  

However, this year came as a shock to the other opponents who expected to pretty much the same team.  But when the defending Champions – Lady Warriors – saw some veterans step onto the court for the Islanders, their smiles disappeared quickly! And for good reason.  By the time the smoke cleared, the defending champions found themselves in shock; losing to the Islanders 42-33.  With the addition of players like Jennifer Cotarelo-Choice, Renee Thompson, Scimone Campbell, Krystle Barrett and Christsania Parker, the Islanders are now a force to be reckoned with.  

Coach Voot gives instructions to the Islanders by: Wil Bignal Photography
Lunn leads Dream past Islanders

The 2016 finals runner up, Dream, took on the new league sensation, the Islanders on May 7th at the Clifton Hunter High School Gym.

This year’s Islanders team has definitely 10X’ed their performance compared to last year, with additions such as Scimone Campbell, Jennifer Cottarelo-Choice, Krystle Barrett, Renee Thompson and Christsania Parker.  The game was fast and furious, seeing lead change after lead change and big play after big play.  But in the 4th quarter, Eve Lunn turned on the heat and made the Islanders pay for leaving her open on the 3-point line, hitting four huge baskets from behind the arc and putting the Dream out front.  

Final Score Dream – 49
Islanders – 47
Dream – 
Eve Lunn – 18 pts; 9 rebs, 1st
Carmen Picante – 9 pts; 5 as; 5 sts
Theresa Hamel – 8 pts; 11 rebs; 
Islanders – 
Jennifer Cotarelo-Choice – 14 pts; 5 rebs; 6 sts
Krystle Barrett – 11 pts; 10 rebs; 3 sts
Scimone Campbell – 10 pts; 21 rebs; 4 as; 8 sts
Photo Credit: Wil Bignal Photography
Wesleyan defeat St. Ignatius

Action continues in the KPMG Under 14 Boys basketball league. This week’s action saw Wesleyan Christian Academy take on St Ignatius Catholic school. Wesleyan jumped out to an early lead, playing at a frantic pace and trying to capitalize on their fast-break opportunities. St ignatius was trying to pound the ball inside where they had an obvious height advantage. It took nearly a quarter and a half for St ignatius to heat up but they came storming back with a vengeance. However after enduring St ignatius’ run, Wesleyan again turned up their defense and was able to force a few turnovers by their opponents. Those turnovers led to fast-break opportunities which also led to some easy baskets. Although St ignatius would make a run late in the fourth quarter it was too little too late and Wesleyan were able to raise their hands in victory from a very closely contested game. Final score 14-11 in favor of Wesleyan.

Photo below: St. Ignatius Catholic School

St Ignatius
Women of Valor put the Brakes on Islanders

Women’s basketball continues to heat up as the national women’s league is enjoying very balanced competitive games. The women of valor took on the Islanders who are much stronger this year and have gotten off to a great start by defeating the defending champions, Lady Warriors, in their season debut. The woman of valor however wanted to make sure that this start would not continue with them. Led by Guiesha Smith, The women of valor played a very up tempo game and focused their efforts on Islanders’ leader Scimone Chin. Both teams were neck and neck for the vast majority of the game and it was only until the final four minutes of the fourth quarter that the women of valor were finally able to pull away and get a small amount of breathing room.

Final Score 45-40 in favor of Women of Valor who are the only undefeated team thus far and will face the Lady Warriors this coming Sunday.

Guiesha Smith led the WOV with 14 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks.
Jade Wheeler also posted 14 points, but added 9 rebounds and 3 steels to her tally.

For the Islanders, Scimone Chin had 6 points, a league high 13 steals and 11 rebounds, just shy of a triple double.
Teammate Renee Thompson had a monster game on the boards, pulling down 18 rebounds. Jennifer Cotarelo-Choice also had an impressive game, finishing with 8 points, 6 steals and 6 assists.

Photo Credit: Wil Bignal Photography

Lady Warriors wake up Dream

The defending champions Lady Warriors were able to defeat their rivals the Dream despite suffering their first loss in their season opener.
The Warriors, led by Captain Dionne Anglin, got off to an early start, pounding the ball down in the post and taking advantage of their post mismatches. The Dream made A few runs in an attempt to bring the game back but each time they cut the deficit the Warriors would take a turn of their own and open the lead back up. Although Maggie Ebanks fouled out halfway through the third quarter the Lady Warriors were able to hold off the Dream to a final score of 34-29. In the end, the Warriors defense proved too difficult for the Dream to overpower as the warriors had a team league high 10 blocks and also had 17 second chance opportunities. 

For the Warriors, Dionne Anglin led with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Teammate Stacey Kelly added 4 points, a game high 18 rebounds and 4 blocks.

For the Dream: Kimberley Ebanks led with 9 points and 10 rebounds.