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661 Shine Bright

On July 10th, Cayman’s top Under 23 players took to the John Gray Gymnasium for the Shooting Stars 3×3 Basketball Tournament. In the previous showdown, Team Wakanda emerged victorious; but on this night there would be new kids on the block by the name of “661” who would steal the show. After 21 round robin games of play, the top two that emerged would be Team 1 – comprised of Lance Welcome, Alwin Buttrum and Revaughn Johnson, and 661 – made up of Nathaniel Anderson, Mark Mclean and Jahron Barnes.

Team 661 got of to a blistering start; hot shooting, strong dribble penetration and a team chemistry that looked like they’ve been playing together for years. Each player seemed to know where his teammate would be and when. They also created a lot of defensive problems for Team 1. Lance Welcome, the tournament’s top scorer was getting stifling defense. But there was no answer for Alwin Buttrum, who was punishing the small 661 players in the paint. This appeared to be the strategy that Team 1 should have led with but they realized this a little too late. The damage had already been done and there would be no recovery for team 1.

In the end – 661 would emerge victorious in their tournament debut. The players can’t wait until the next one.

From L-R: Jahron Barnes, Mark Mclean and Nate Anderson
NATIONAL TEAMS OFF TO ISLAND GAMES

Our National Men and Women’s teams are off to Guernsey for the 2023 NatWest Island Games.

The men would defend their back to back Championship titles. Gold in Gotland 2017 and Gold in Gibraltar 2019.

Our women placed 5th in 2019 and 6th in 2017.

The Men and women will play their first games this Sunday. The men will face Menorca at 9am Guernsey time or 3am Cayman time and the women will take on Jersey at 11:30am Guernsey time or 5:30am Cayman time.

NATIONAL MEN’S TEAM: L-R Coach Borislav Djordjic, Jake Whittaker, Bryan Ebanks, Philip Webb, Juawon Ebanks, Shaad O’Garro, Head Coach Duran Whittaker, Samuel O’Garro, Justin Collins, Justin Golob, Kwei General, Deandre Simpson, Davion Cotterell.

NATIONAL WOMEN’S TEAM: L-R Coach Victor O’Garro, Head Physio – Taylor Reid, Head Coach Wendy Manzanares, Chloe Powery-Doxey, Leandrea Watson, Jamie Rankin, Courtisha Ebanks, Kailan O’Connor, Zandie Smith, Neandra Forbes-Morgan, Team Manager Angela O’Garro, Victoria Gray, Vania Cornwall, Hannah Parchment, Coach Cory McGee, Annika Moore

Wakanda Take The Title

Team Wakanda will definitely cherish this moment “forever” as they walk away the victors of the Generation Next 3×3 Basketball Tournament Held at the Arts and Recreation Center on June 29th.

It was a fierce competition in which every team suffered a loss. There were dunks, 3’s and lots of “And 1’s”! Teams played an intense, high tempo style of play. The two top teams during the round robin play were Nice Try – and Wakanda. In their first meeting, Nice Try edged past Wakanda 11-8. But Wakanda would have the opportunity for revenge as they met the team that they suffered their only loss to in the finals. Wakanda would emerge victorious by repaying “Nice Try” with an 11-8 defeat! MVP of the championship game was Jathan Barnes. Team Wakanda comprised of Daric Ebanks, Jathan Barnes, Noel Squire and Daniel Reyes.

Blazers Win Best of the Best Title

The best of the best faced off on June 25th at the Arts and Recreation Center. Cayman’s top national and college players faced off for bragging rights and to see who truly is….the Best.

The competition was fierce and intense. Because of the high level of skill, games rarely ended because of time expiration; instead, it was an display of offensive mastery along with high flying acrobatics.

Although the young guns such as Joshua O’Garro, Justin Collins, Philip Webb, Tazmar Dawkins and Javonte Woolery put up a fight, they didn’t overcome the experience of the seasoned veteran blazers team of The O’Garro Brothers and Justin Golob. Astros met the Blazers in the Finals and although Davi Cotterell, Jake Whittaker and Deandre Simpson gave a scare, they were no match for the dynamic trio who have now won their second 3×3 tournament for the year.

The question in the Cayman 3×3 World now seems to be…”Can anyone Dethrone the Blazers?” Only Time will tell.

Blazers have the Perfect Season

The Sol Blazers just keep piling up the win column! After completing an undefeated regular season, the league leaders would not disappoint their fans! But it would not come without a fight. The 2nd seeded CIS team was no pushover. They arguably have the best style of basketball in the league and a well rounded group. But the Blazers play a high octane and very physical style of play that often leaves their opponents in shambles. They take advantage of their athleticism.

The game was a fantastic one to watch. Both teams were neck and neck for the entire game. The game saw several lead changes and just when you thought the Blazers had it int he bag, CIS came storming back. It was definitely a game of chess as both coaches kept trying out different combinations and styles, hoping to find an easy formula to win. But there were none! The game was competitive from start to finish but in the end, the Sol Blazers would raise the championship trophy as the smoke cleared!

The Blazers were led by Jamie Dean Stewart who asserted his rebounding prowess and finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, 7 steals and 4 blocks. Teammate Osmond Anderson (the League’s best defensive player) poured in 17 points to go along with his 10 rebounds. Jaylan Lopez was in foul trouble for much of the game but still managed to finish with 8 points and 8 rebounds while Arion Wright added 10 points and 2 steals.

For CIS, Scoring Champion Griffin MacDonald led the way with 24 points and 7 rebounds while rebound champion Ayo Ogunyebi added 15 points, 15 rebounds and 4 steals. James Fletcher, the leagues assist leader, added 9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Final Score: 65-57 in favor of the Sol Blazers who have now won the Men’s League, and the Under 16 boys league in the same year.

Sol Blazers
Cayman International School
A DREAM Come True

There is a new champion in U16 Girls basketball! The Dream took on the Women of Valor Fearless in the championship of the annual PWC Under 16 girls league. The Dream got off to a blazing start, applying some early pressure and paying a lot of attention to the leading scorers of the Fearless. However, the Fearless came storming back when they applied some pressure of their own which changed the momentum of the game. Both teams were back and forth for 4 quarters but mid way through the 4th quarter the Dream pulled ahead by 10 points and would not give up the lead.

Dream were led by the league leading scorer Jessica Watler who poured in 27 points to go along with her 10 rebounds and 6 blocks; this also earned her Finals MVP honours. Teammate Abriann Cooper added 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

For the Fearless, Ajulon Thomas led the way with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks while teammate, Alissa Myles-Powell added 8 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals.

Final Score: 49-37 in favor of the Dream.

Women of Valor Fearless
Dream
Best of the Best Score Tracker
Blazers Seal the deal in Epic Thriller

The Sol Blazers vs Burger King Warriors will go down as one of the greatest games in history. After a fairly easy victory in Game 1 over the Warriors, The Sol Blazers found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Down by 10 points in the fourth quarter with 5 minutes to go.

The Warriors made two key adjustments: limit offensive rebounds and transition baskets by the Blazers. Jerome Narcisse decided to take on the responsibility of slowing down the league’s leading scorer Samuel O’Garro who scored 42 points in Game 1. Their plan worked! From the onset of the game, it was obvious that the Blazers would not get out to a major lead early; and with Warriors Center Javann Webb back in the mix, there would be no easy baskets at the rim for the Blazers. Webb also commanded alot of attention on the offensive end with this 6’4, 260 pound frame. But when Webb fouled out with 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, the trouble began for the Warriors who were trying to cling to a 10 point lead. The Blazers slowly began to chip away at the lead until Justin Golob hit a clutch 3 pointer to put the Blazers ahead by 1 with 16 seconds to go. The Warriors quickly pushed the ball down the court and found the man with the Hot Hand – Ebanks, who shifted through the defense and threw up a running left handed layup to put the team back ahead by 1 point.

The Blazers called a timeout in order to draw up a play and advance the ball. With only 5 seconds to go, the Blazers would inbound the ball and find their leading scorer, O’Garro, who threw up a 3 pointer that went in off the backboard to put the Blazers up by 2 with only 0.5 seconds to go. A technical foul was assessed to the Blazers who began celebrating a bit too early by storming the court before the game was finished. Ebanks would hit the free throw to bring the game to within 1 point, but with no time outs remaining, the Warriors were left with no time to draw up a play and had to inbound the ball from their baseline. After throwing the ball as high as possible, Shaad O’Garro would get to the ball before anyone else could to seal the game and re-establish the Blazers as the #1 team in Cayman Basketball.

Juawon Ebanks led the charge for the Warriors with 31 points including 5 three-pointers. Kwei General added 19 points and 7 rebounds while Stephan Cotterell added 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Samuel O’Garro led the team with 35 points and 11 rebounds, while his brother Shaad O’Garro came up with a monster 29 point, 11 rebound and 6 block performance. Just Golob also had a fantastic game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.

Final Score: 100-99 in favor of the Blazers.

Samuel O’Garro walked away with MVP honours, averaging 37 points, and 9 rebounds per game in the finals.

Plantito Close out the Heat for Historic Win

Basketball fans were able to witness some of the most incredible basketball in the past year. In game two of the Princess Jewellers division two national basketball league championship series, Plantito took on the Cayman finance heat. The game got off to a blistering start and Plantito had blood in their eyes. With Curtis Wilson of the Heat being out for game two, there was no mercy being shown! Plantito wore the heat down by excellent, rapid ball movement; stretching the Heat defense and wearing their opponents out as much as possible before attacking the basket.  

Plantito was able to have well distributed scoring, as 4 of their 5 starters ended up in double figures. For the Heat, Nick Berardi picked up the slack by pouring in 40 points while teammate Jeremy Varlow added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  

But the night belonged to Plantito with a packed house of their fans that would not be left disappointed! 

Plantito would extend their lead in the second half and never looked back. Christian Corpus led the charge with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals while Jeonell Ramos added 16 points. Free throw hurt the Heat as they shot 48% from the stripe as a team and only 25% from the 3-point line which is where they make their living. Plantito shot 67% from the line and 42% from long range.  

Plantito has now made history with this victory as the first Philippine team to win a national title in Division 1 or 2. Christian Corpus was the finals MVP averaging over 26 points per game. He was awarded an Invicta Time Piece from the Series Sponsor: Princess Jewellers.  

Plantito has their eyes on Historic Championship

The Plantito team is setting out to do what no Philippine team has done before: win a title in a Division 1 or 2 National Men’s League. This team has an amazing style of play; great ball movement, great coaching, strategy and good skill. They overcame the top-seeded Cayman Finance heat in last night’s game 75-67.

For Plantito: Christian Corpus led the team with 26 points and 8 rebounds, while teammate Jeonell Ramos added 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Prisfel Cruz also added 12 points and 7 rebounds.

For the Heat, Curtis Wilson led the charge with 25 points and 24 rebounds while teammate Nick Berardi added 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Its win or go home for the Heat this coming Sunday at the ARC: 6:00 pm.