Category Latest news

Bank Charge Hits the Trifecta

Team Bank Charge has established itself as the queens of 3×3 by capturing their 3rd consecutive 3×3 tournament title. However, this one did not come without a scare. A revamped Kaash Team, consisting of April Ebanks, Vania Cornwall and Vicky Gray, actually handed Bank Charge their first loss of the season during round robin play.

It was certainly up for grabs and everyone was certain that it would come down to a rematch for the title. But Bank Charge got hot late in the game with an onslaught of 3’s from Chloe Powery-Doxey and Hannah Parchment. One minute, it was 11-10 and then It just began raining 3’s! When that starts happening, hopes get diminished really quickly! In the end, Bank Charge would emerge as the undisputed champs for this series of tournaments, sponsored by the Cayman Islands Classic.

The final score: Bank Charge 21 – Kaash 12.

BlazTros Show Who Got Game

The combination of the SOL Blazers and IRG Astros have proven to be a worthy concoction. Despite facing intense competition from fellow national team rivals from the Gladiators, the monarchs and Dem Ones, The team combo of Shaad O’Garro, Davi Cotterell , Jake Whitaker and Justin Golab proved to be a little too much for their counterparts.

Both the BlazeTros and the Gladiators went undefeated in the regular round play and were destined to meet in the finals. The crowd would not be disappointed as the game went down to the wire and saw Shaad O’Garro hit the game winning shot in overtime to bring home the bacon for his team.

The players are already looking forward to the next tournament which is the hoop it up three on three tournament which takes place on October 15 at the arts and recreation center once again. Only time will tell if the Blazetros will manage to come out on too once again or can the Gladiators exact revenge.

Bancha Captures Title

Most of Cayman’s top female basketball players came out to show their stuff and take part in what was for most of them, their first ever 3 on 3 competition locally.

They were pleasantly surprised at the new format of the FIBA three on three competition. The continuous, fast paced style of play, the intensity, and the level of competitiveness certainly made it an enjoyable experience with the players yearning for more. Throughout the intense battle the team called Bancha emerged victorious. Defeating the rival opponents Truly Infinity (Vicky Gray, Shantel Wilks and Lorrie Brown) by a score of 13 to 11.

The championship team Is comprised of Hannah Parchment’, Chloe Powery – Doxey and Guiesha Smith. The tournament is sponsored by the Cayman Islands Classic which would also be donating tickets to the games to the champs of each tournament.

All eyes are now set on the next competition – the Hoop It Up 3 on 3 Tournament which takes place on October 15th at the ARC once again!
interested persons should visit the CIBA website at CaymanBasketball.com to register their team Before the deadline of October 14.

How to Register Your 3 on 3 Team

Step 1 – Click on the Register Here Button to go directly to the FIBA Registration Page

Step 2 – Click on the Blue “Register Team” Button

Step 3 – Scroll Down the page and Click on the “Register Team” Button next to the category you are entering. Then follow the instructions to complete your registration.

Ebanks off to Baton Rouge!

18 year old Arleny Ebanks is off to Baton Rouge Community College in Louisiana this summer.

The 6’3 center played just her first year in the National Women’s Basketball league when she joined the league’s runners up “Islanders” this season.

Ebanks began learning the game of Basketball recently in 2019. It was National Youth and Assistant Women’s Coach Cory McGee who saw huge potential and took the stellar rebounder under his wing and prepared her for battle in a little over a year.

Ebanks joined the Breakfast Club morning program where she improved her skill and knowledge of the game preparing her for the next 4 years of tertiary education. She’s also looking forward to giving back to the Cayman Islands National programs.

All the best Arleny!!!!🏀🤗

Warriors Claim Under 16 Title!

Warriors are the new 2021 PWC National U16 Boys championships. 🏆🏀❤💪🏽👍🏼

From the jump, the Ice Tray and Warriors matchup was a close encounter with several lead changes. Nathaniel Anderson put on a show for the Ice Tray fans but in the end the Warriors would emerge victorious.

After Warriors star player Xzavier Miller was fouled out with two minutes left in the 4th quarter one would think the game would be over but the Warriors team stepped up and showed why practice makes perfect and the team with the least mistakes win.

For Warriors: Enarre Smith led the charge with 15 points, But it would be Xzavier Miller’s 15 rebounds and 12 points that kept the team afloat; Umar Gordon and Jamar Ellis both added points each.

For Ice Tray: Nathaniel Anderson too scored with 23 points and Andrew Stone followed with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Final score: Warriors 54 Ice Tray 51

Player of the Week

🏀PLAYER OF THE WEEK🏀

Davion Cotterell was one assist shy of a triple double and 3 rebounds short of making a quadruple double when he led the IRG Astros with 48 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 7 steals, 1 block.

In Monday’s game against Celltronics, Cotterell scored a career high of 50 points.

Deloitte Player of the Week – Boys

Marcus Fletcher earns player of the week rights for the Deloitte Under 19 Boys Basketball League.  Fletcher (of team Chino Hills) was the only player with a double digit scoring average, finishing with 30 points in his two games. Fletcher also was 2nd in Assists, 3rd in steals, 1st in 3 pointers made.  

Fletcher also shot 100% from 3 point range and 44% from within the ARC. 

Can Fletcher lead his team to the top of the standings this week?  Or will the formidable Sol Blazers remain undefeated?  Action continues this Sunday at 4:00 PM for the Boys. 

Deloitte Player Of the Week

Amaya Linwood is the the player of the week for her performance in 1st round action of the Deloitte Under 19 Girls Basketball League.

The league takes on a fast and furious format this year, as game time is slightly shortened but each team plays two games per day.  After 4 games of non stop action, Linwood emerged the most outstanding this week as she filled the stat sheets:

She averaged 12.5 points, 4 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 1 block per game. Did we mention that she is one of the youngest players in the league (14)?

Linwood also finished with the highest free throw percentage, 2nd in scoring, 1st in rebounds, 1st in assists, 3rd in steals, 1st in blocks.  Her team is the “Women of Valor Fearless”.

 Action continues this Sunday at 3 pm for the girls the John Gray High School Gymnasium.  

Basketball Standout O’Garro Commits to Oklahoma

By: Kevin Morales.

Caymanian Joshua O’Garro is making history.

O’Garro this week verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Oklahoma, which would make him the first Caymanian to play the sport at the NCAA Division I level.

“It’s a great day,” Cayman Islands basketball technical director Voot O’Garro told the Cayman Compass on Friday.

Joshua O’Garro this year wrapped up his junior season at Santa Clarita High School, in California. He caught the attention of several Division I men’s basketball programmes while moving up recruiting site rankings. He’s considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com – one of the United States’ most recognised recruiting news services – which rates players on a five-star system. He was ranked a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com.

“It is a great program,” O’Garro told Rivals.com’s Corey Evans of OU. “They make great players and that’s what I want to be and I feel that Coach (Lon) Kruger and the staff are all invested in me as a person on and off the court. They believe in me and my abilities and I won’t let their belief go to waste.”

Evans tweeted a graphic illustration on Thursday showing O’Garro in a Sooners jersey. Oklahoma’s official men’s basketball Twitter account retweeted it.

O’Garro had planned on playing one more year of high school basketball. He reclassified to the class of 2020, however, because he met college academic requirements between his time at Santa Clarita and another prep school he previously attended, according to Voot O’Garro.

NCAA Division I is the top level of college sports in the US. The Sooners play in the Big 12 Conference, which is one of the most prestigious conferences in the US in terms of athletics success.

“The Cayman Islands native is one of the more gifted athletes we’ve had at BTI in 23 years,” tweeted BTI, O’Garro’s club team.

The Sooners have four players that currently play in the National Basketball Association, including the Detroit Pistons four-time All-Star Blake Griffin, Atlanta Hawks All-Star point guard Trey Young and Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, who won the 3-point shootout competition at the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Oklahoma had made the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship tournament in five of the last six years before the 2020 tournament was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sooners had put together a 19-12 record before the 2020 season was cancelled.

Joshua O’Garro has given a verbal commitment but has not yet signed his National Letter of Intent to attend the school, which would make the announcement official. He plans to redshirt next year, Voot O’Garro said. If a player is ‘redshirted’ it means the athlete is enrolled at the school and remains a member of the team but will not play that season. The player therefore does not begin his or her four years of eligibility to play until the following academic year.

As for the young athlete heading to Oklahoma, “This is going to take Cayman Islands basketball to the next level,” Caymanian basketball coach Corey McGee said.