Cayman Gets Revenge on Texas
In their first matchup, The Texas Elite Squad were able to get the better of the Cayman team, defeating them by 10 points in a very competitive and exciting matchup. It was obvious that champions of the tournament would emerge from these two teams. In Game 1, Texas was able to pull away in the dying minutes of the game, taking advantage of their physical strength as a team which seemed to wear down the Cayman defense. Texas had a slight edge in rebounds, Cayman shot slightly better from the field (34.6%) vs Texas (34.5%), Both teams struggled from the free trow line, shooting less than 60%. Rebounding, turnovers, assist and blocks were nearly identical. After the final buzzer, the bitter taste of defeat was one that the Cayman team would not experience again.
The rematch came on July 20th at 7:00 pm as the final game of the Festival. Cayman would look to slow down the eventual tournament MVP – Isaac Jackson – who posted 25 points, 15 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 assists to lead the team to victory in game 1. Cayman played its classic In-your-face defense; applying full court pressure on the Texans who seemed to be up for the challenge. But as the 4th quarter came around, the pressure appeared to finally get to Cayman’s opponents as some costly turnovers came around int eh final minute of play.
Cayman was led by Joshua O’Garro’s monster game of 29 points, 16 rebounds, 8 steals and 9 assists, just shy of a quadrouple double! Teammate Joanki Espinal came out hot and stayed hot the entire game, posting his tournament best 25 points. Tareaque Simpson added a solid 15 points and 9 rebounds while Brad Lansdell added 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals including the go ahead bucket in the 4th quarter from which Cayman would not look back.
Cayman made the home crowd extremely happy and it was a fitting end to the inaugural Cayman basketball festival. Cayman finished 2nd only because they defeated Texas by less points (8) than their opponents win in game 1 (10), giving the Visitors the win based on head to head result. However, Cayman was electrified by the performance of its home team and looks forward to more boys and girls action in the near future.
Technical Director Victor “Voot O’Garro, said a very special thank you to the Sponsors; Ministry of Sports, Cayman Islands Olympic Committee and Hertz Rent-A-Car for their instrumental support in making the tournament a success.
Cayman’s Historic Win in Festival Opener
The Cayman Islands U-18 team made history by recording not only their first win in the festival, but also their first win for international youth tournaments at Grand Cayman’s amazing facility.
Cayman defeated Bermuda 85-49 in the opener, due to suffocating full court defensive pressure. Cayman set the tone of the game with their in-your-face defense; forcing Bermuda to commit 34 turnovers. Both teams were evenly matched in rebounds and free throw percentage; Cayman shot 45% from the field and 25% from 3 point range; led by the hot shooting of Brad Lansdell who went 5 of 9 from behind the arc, and Kai Robinson who was 3 of 7 from 3 point range. Bermuda was only able to shoot 12.5% from behind the arc.
Cayman was led by Kai Robinson, who finished with 23 points, 4 assists and 3 steals, while Joshua O’Garro posted the best overall game with an impressive 22 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Brad Lansdell also made a massive impact with his 19 points, 8 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Tareaque Simpson was solid, pouring in 10 points to go along with his 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.
For Bermuda: Jorel Smith led with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. While teammate Christian Liyanage added 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Festival Schedule
Here is the schedule for the games this week! Be sure to come out to support Cayman as they take on Port Arthur Texas and Bermuda teams!
Cayman Re-Peat at Island Games
Cayman’s National Men’s team have repeated GOLD at the Natwest Island Games after defeating powerhouse Sareema in the Championship match.
This mean’s that the men’s program has medaled 6 out of the total ten appearances at the Islands games, racking up 4 silver and now 2 straight Gold Medals. What has been the difference? College Experience!
The Current Cayman national Men’s team comprise of 12 players: 11 of which have played either in College and/or high school in the United States and 1 player that has played professionally in Germany, as opposed to previous silver medal teams that had 3-5 players with such experience. This exposure has no doubt better equipped the team to compete at higher levels. Cayman’s focus this year was defensive domination; Cayman played all of their opponents a full-court man-to-man defense. Cayman’s defense was intense, aggressive and suffocating, resulting in them winning only one game of their 5 by less than 20 points.
Cayman was strong off the bench as well, young players like Arin Taylor, Juawon Ebanks, Joshua O’Garro and Kai Robinson all came in and also put on stellar performances. Overall it was a fantastic performance by the men’s team who will now focus their attention on the next Caribbean Championships tournament and an invitational tournament next Easter.
Head Coach Ed Pellot-Rosa and assistant Coach Duran Whittaker did a fantastic job preparing the team to defend their title.
The Cayman Team: Deandre Simpson, Kwei General, Shaad O’Garro, Arin Taylor, Samuel O’Garro, Jake Whittaker, Philip Webb, Davion Cotterell, Kai Robinson, Joshua O’Garro, Tikko Moore, Juawon Ebanks.
Cayman Defeats Guernsey 59-50
Cayman’s national women’s team defeated Guernsey in a grueling 5th place match. Both teams have similar styles of play with similar player compositions, which makes them more evenly matched. However, Cayman was able to overcome their opponents through heart and determination, sustaining runs and stifling defensive effort.
Cayman’s Men Dominating
The defending Island Games Champions are sending message loud and clear to their opponents, they mean business! Thus far, Cayman has steamrolled their competition, with their latest win over Aland being 154-13. But the champs will face much stiffer competition as they move into the semi-final round agains the like of teams like Menorca and Gibraltar.
Come what may, Cayman is ready!
Cayman 59, Jersey 25
The national Women’s team pulled off their first win of their 2019 Island Games run with a decisive victory over Jersey.
The Cayman team has a lot of potential and are improving with each passing game. It will be important for the team to stick together over the coming years to continue to build chemistry.
Photo take with Cayman’s Minister of Sports – the Honourable Julianna O’Connor-Connolly
Island Games Action July 7th
Today, Sunday July 7th, Action Starts for Cayman basketball when the Women take on their rivals, Gibraltar at 10:15 AM Cayman Time.
Then Cayman’s National Men’s team take on Isle of Wight at 12:30 pm Cayman Time. The National Men are expected to easily win this game as the IOW has never defeated the Cayman team in the tournament’s existence.
To watch the Games live please visit: https://www.facebook.com/GibraltarBasket/
