The 2nd annual Smith’s ICT & Security Services 13 & Under (13U) Basketball Tournament came to a close on Sunday 29th July at the Island Harbour Basketball Court. That day would see the top 4 teams out of the 7 competitors compete to determine the final top 3 positions.
The 3rd place final of Top Hill Grey vs. Jr. Ballers ended with Jr. Ballers cruising to a 41 – 22 victory. Thomas John (15 points) and Shawn Seesahie (12 pts) both contributing heavy to secure the 3rd place position. Top Hill Grey were led by constantly improving Sanjye Harrigan (6 points) and Tajai Richardson who also scored 6 points.
The championship game was as expected; a tight battle between the 2 heavy weights of the tournament as both teams battled back and forth and finished the first half with a 4 point difference. In the second half Top Hill looked all but ready to upset the home team until their star player got into foul trouble. Taking advantage of this, Bandits used their balance of firepower to keep things interesting and with 13 seconds remaining in the game the score was even. Running one last play Bandits managed to score as they fed the ball inside and gave Top Hill 6 seconds to come up with an answer to force overtime. Unable to score in this final possession, the 2017 champions Top Hill lost the game 37-39 to Bandits who finished the season undefeated. The excitement and satisfaction of this result was symbolized by the sound of the conch shell blowing in harmony with the cheers of the home crowd.
In the finale, Top Hill’s Sanjay Harrigan gave an impressive performance scoring (23 pts), while his teammate Jemar Willock contributed (7 pts). Bandits’ performance was led by Miltoine Mercer (17 pts), Jevaunti Sasso (10 pts) and Rasheem Harrigan (8 pts).
Other tournament awards distributed on that night were as follows:
Jr. Hoyas MVP: Javier Difo
Jr. Ballers MVP: Thomas John
Bandits MVP: Miltoine Mercer
Pointers MVP: Angel Connor
Raptors MVP: Shaheim Proctor
Top Hill Grey MVP: Rashawn Warner
Top Hill Blue MVP: Sanjay Harrigan
Overall MVP: Sanjay Harrigan
Most Disciplined Player: Keianna Vanterpool
Each MVP received a trophy, an NBA player backpack while the overall MVP received a trophy, NBA Player Backpack and a pair of sneakers. Additionally, parents of the players also left as winners as any mothers of players in attendance were able to shoot a free throw to win a Spa Certificate compliments Cuisinart Golf Resort and Spa. While fathers got a chance to shoot a 3 point shot for a US$50.00 gift certificate from ABC Supplies. Merle Joseph was able to secure the Spa Certificate as the winning mother while Rasharn Harrigan was able to emerge as the winning father. The award for most supportive parents was awarded to Lanville and Evette Harrigan. They were gifted with an EC$350 shopping certificate from JW Proctors.
The Organising Committee would like to thank the general public, in particular the parents for their continued support throughout the tournament as well as the coaches and referees for volunteering their time and talents to make this event possible. We would like to thank our corporate partners, Cuisinart Golf Resort & Spa and JW Proctors. We would also like to thank Mr. Dwayne Smith of Smith’s ICT & Security Services for his overwhelming support. Mr. Smith covered all costs associated with t-shirts, water, trophies and gifts for both players and parents. We look forward to his continued support.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
