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.
Blazers and Warriors face off for the Crown
It seemed as though it was scripted for a movie: The 2-time defending champions, the Burger King Warriors, who are the only undefeated team this year, face off against the 2nd Seeded Sol Blazers who are eager for revenge.
In their last 4 meetings there is a 2-2 split. The Warriors blew out the Blazers by 20 in their meeting this season; however, the Blazers’ top scorer Samuel O’Garro did not play that game. This game features two players that played Professional in Europe: Samuel O’Garro, who leads the league in scoring and also posted a season and career high 61 points in a single game this season. However, O’Garro doesn’t only get it done on the offensive end, he also leads the league in Steals, is the top rebounder for his team and also is 2nd in assists for his team. For the Warriors, Jerome Narcisse also played in Europe and is the league’s most efficient player. Narcisse has the highest field goal percentage of any players that have played at least 4 games (63.8%) and leads his team in scoring, assists and rebounds. These are two very complete players.
The blazers have a big 3 – Samuel and Shaad O’Garro and Justin Golob, who are the main ingredients responsible for the Blazers “bounce back” season. Shaad O’Garro is a defensive menace and leads the league in Blocks while Golob is also a very good scorer and can also create opportunities for his teammates.
The Warriors also have a big 3; along with Narcisse is Juawon Ebanks, a fiery, lightning fast shooting guard who can heat up very quickly. Ebanks put alot of pressure on defenses because of his ability to penetrate gaps in the defense. Along with the knock-down long range shooter Kwei General. General is one of the top three, long-range shooters in the league but also another good all-round player. General is the 2nd leading scorer for the Warriors with 21 points per game.
The action begins on Sunday May 21st at the ARC at 7:45 pm. Before this game is the Division 1 Finals Game 1 between Plantito and the Cayman Finance Heat. Both Championships are presented by Princess Jewellers.
Kings And Queens 3×3
Another Exciting 3×3 tournament is coming! Click here for more information and to register.
Bullets and Astros Must Win or Go Home
We are all familiar with the term “Win or go Home”. It’s a situation where a team finds themselves facing elimination in a playoff series and if they do not win, they will be eliminated. Some also use the term “gone fishing” to refer to the team that loses; either way, no one wants to be that team.
This is unfortunately the situation that two of the top 4 Division 1 teams face right now. The Silver Bullets have had a pretty rough season but have gotten a nice shot in the arm with the return of Lance Welcome for the latter portion of the season. However, they were not able to defeat the 2-time defending champions, the Burger King Warriors. In their first meeting, the Warriors outscored the Bullets 95-79. As a team, the Warriors shot over 53% from 3-point range while the Bullets shot only 36% from the same distance. Rebounding was also a major factor; the Warriors outrebounded the Bullets 29-11. There is no way the Bullets can win if they can’t shrink that rebounding gap.
Jerome Narcisse led all players with 36 points and 4 rebounds while teammate Kwei General added 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks including a red hot 66% from 3 point range.
For the Bullets, Peter Grant led the way with 27 points while Lance Welcome poured in 26.
Game 2 takes place Sunday May 7th at 6:15 pm at the ARC.
In the second game, the IRG Astros need to win against their nemeses the Sol Blazers. In their previous meeting, the Blazers shot 40% from the 3-point line vs 28% outside shooting from the Astros. The Blazers also had a slight rebounding edge over the Astros: 43-37. But to summarize, this is a dream matchup for any basketball fan to watch. The Astros have some additional pieces that have made them even stronger such as Deandre Simpson to go along with the established veterans of Jake Whittaker, Davie Cotterell and Bryce Thompson. This game features the two top scorers of the league and a physical composition of basketball beasts that you have to see to believe! Their first meeting ended in an 81-79 finish which went down to the final play of the game. Fans can’t wait to see how game 2 of this series turns out.
Samuel O’Garro led all scorers with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists while teammate Justin Golob added 14 points and 12 rebounds. For IRG, Davi Cotterell led the way with 28 points while teammates Deandre Simpson and Jake Whittaker added 14 and 13 points apiece.
Game 2 of this series takes place on Sunday May 7th at 7:45 pm at the ARC.
Happy Hour 3×3 Ends in a Bang!
On April 28th, 10 Teams from the CIBA National Men’s Basketball League took the court to vy for the crown of this year’s first in a series of 3×3 Tournaments. The games were fast paced and loaded with offensive action! 3X3 is continuous and has a 12 second shot clock; so teams do not have any time to relax! As time progressed, the cream of the crop began to rise to the top; the Sol Blazers, Astros, Plantito and Silver Bullets would emerge as the top 4. The Bullets, led by Lance Welcome, tried to give Davie Cotterell, Whittaker and Rankine a run for their money, but the size and strength of the Astros was too much to handle.
On the other court, Plantito – a combination of the Philippines’ finest, took on the Blazers; but the O’Garro brothers, Omar Clarke and Justin Golob proved to be too much to handle. This would ultimately lead to the showdown that most expected; the Blazers and the Astros. As fate would have it this actually turns out to be the same teams that will face each other in the semi finals of the division one playoffs. Both teams were trading baskets for the first few minutes; it seemed impossible for one team to stop the other from scoring. But each time the Astros would score one point the Blazers would come back with two. This began to open up a little breathing space for the Blazers. But the Astros came storming back and a late long range shot from Shaad O’Garro sealed he deal to wind things up with a 21-17 finish.
The Blazers were awarded some gift certificates from Smoothie King, Winner Circle Sports and from the Title Sponsor – Cayman Cabana.
It was an exciting evening and players are already looking forward to the next tournament which takes place on May 19th.
Youth Teams Look Forward to Competitions with Port Arthur
The Cayman Islands Basketball Association has teamed up with Bringing Back the Glory Tournaments to provide opportunities for their youth teams in Cayman and Port Arthur Texas to compete.
Port Arthur and the Cayman Islands have a deeper connection than many people realize. Many decades ago, many of the seafarers settled in Port Arthur. As the Caymanian population grew there, an exchange began with friendly competitions of all sorts. Barefoot Man would even travel there at least once per year and have an event Called “Cayman Nights”.
With the hopes of re-kindling this relationship, Mrs. Wanda Bodden – CEO and Tournament Director for BBTG reached out to the then Director of Sports, Collin Anglin and President of CIBA Richard Parchment to make this vision a reality back in 2019.
The result: Cayman hosted Port Arthur in the Cayman Basketball Festival in 2019 which also included Bermuda along with Cayman and a team from Port Arthur in the Under 17 Boys and Girls Division.
Although the program took a brief hiatus due to Covid, it has now been brought back and both parties are excited! Anglin is now the President of the CI Basketball Association, and the new executive fully supports the continuation of this collaboration.
Cayman’s National Under 15 boys and Girls teams will travel to Port Arthur to Compete in the “Feel the Heat – Reloaded” Tournament June 15-17, hosted by BBTG and then in July 11-13th Port Arthur will travel to Cayman to take part in the Cayman Basketball Festival being hosted by CIBA. The tournament in Cayman will feature Cayman’s U-17 Boys and Girls teams. This is all aimed at giving our athletes more exposure to international competition as Cayman Prepares to take part in upcoming FIBA tournaments.
L-R: Omari Corbin -1st Vice President of CIBA, Victor O’Garro – CIBA Technical Director, Wanda Bodden – CEO and Tournament Director of Bringing Back the Glory Tournaments, Collin Anglin – President of CIBA
Cayman Prep Takes the Title
The KPMG Under 14 Boys Basketball League culminated in an epic final on March 27th at the John Gray High School Gymnasium. The final would see John Gray High School, led by Josh Barrett and Dwight Hewitt Jr face off against the likes of Quin Small, Liam Ramoon and Naz Webb.
The game was as exciting as any basketball fan could imagine! Both teams made runs, exchanging the lead more than 10 times throughout the game! Just when you though one team was running away with the game, their opponents would make a run and erase the lead. Fans were on the edge of their seats as Prep made adjustments, followed by John Gray orchestrating multiple formulas, trying to solve the complex problems their opponents were causing.
But despite Josh Barrett’s 35 point performance, it was not enough as Quinn, Ramoon and Webb would lead their team to victory with well distributed scoring. KPMG has been the proud supporter and prime sponsor of this League for over 10 years and have been delighted to see our youth shine through this platform! Final Score: 51 – 46 in favor of Cayman Prep.
