Barbados bids for Under-16 tourney - Jan 4, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
A DECADE after last hosting a regional basketball tournament, Barbados have decided to throw their hat back in the ring.
Only this time, it will be at the junior level.
President of the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) Carlos Moore announced his executives bid to hold this summers Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) under-16 tournament as Barbados look to improve their standing in junior basketball [read more]
A DECADE after last hosting a regional basketball tournament, Barbados have decided to throw their hat back in the ring.
Only this time, it will be at the junior level.
President of the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) Carlos Moore announced his executives bid to hold this summers Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) under-16 tournament as Barbados look to improve their standing in junior basketball.
We havent made a serious commitment as yet but this is a good opportunity to draw attention to Barbados as a basketball haven, reasoned the first-year chief.
Were also taking this chance for Barbados to host a regional tournament with hopes that we can develop this into bigger things like tennis did with Serena Williams and Ms [Caroline] Wozniacki.
Barbados last staged a regional tournament back in 2000 coincidentally the last time Barbados won at this level where both the men and women took away their respective CBC titles at the Wildey Gymnasium.
If we can use that as any type of gauge, then it seems if Barbados gets this tournament we can look forward to some huge success, laughed Moore.
However, the BABA executive faces a far greater cost than the $600,000 bill that faced Moores predecessors in staging that highly-successful 2000 championships.
The biggest obstacle for us right now is finances as the initial estimate we are hearing is somewhere in the region of two million dollars, Moore stated.
I know these are tough economic times but we hope that through what we are trying to achieve with youth in sport that we can get some sort of support from Government and the private sector.
The announcement comes directly on the heels of the BABAs decision last month to implement a long-awaited, weekly mini-basketball programme for kids under the age 14.
Barbados havent attended a junior basketball tournament since their disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2005 under-18 CBC mens competition in Trinidad, having missed out on the last under-17 tournament two seasons ago in Antigua.
It is hard for us to gauge where we are considering we havent seen the rest of the region at this level for some time now, noted Moore.
However, we are very confident in the ability of our two junior coaches. Theyre very enthusiastic about their job and we know theyve got to do quite a bit of recruiting.
Jones off to flying start - Jan 1, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
PROMISING BASKETBALL JUNIOR Kregg Jones is having an even more encouraging start to his overseas career.
The six-foot-eight 18 year-old has led Army/Navy Warriors High School side in San Diego, California to an impressive 5-2 record in their Division 4 North Coastal High School League.
In his seven games played so far, the former Combermere forward/centre currently ranks second on the team in points (14.1), rebounds (7.1) and blocks (2.6) per game in a starting role [read more]
PROMISING BASKETBALL JUNIOR Kregg Jones is having an even more encouraging start to his overseas career.
The six-foot-eight 18 year-old has led Army/Navy Warriors High School side in San Diego, California to an impressive 5-2 record in their Division 4 North Coastal High School League.
In his seven games played so far, the former Combermere forward/centre currently ranks second on the team in points (14.1), rebounds (7.1) and blocks (2.6) per game in a starting role.
Most recently, Jones racked up a game high 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Warriors routed the visiting Fresno Christian Eagles 69-28 for the sides fifth win.
A Premier League centre for Sagicor Tridents who made his senior national debut last year, the prodigious Jones has recently garnered interest from several NCAA Division I Colleges, including multiple national championship winners UCLA, Kansas and Michigan State University.
QUEENS COLLEGE have brought the two-step to Husbands.
Darren Hunte capped an MVP season with his most valuable performance yet, pouring in 20 of his season high 40 points in the third quarter as the league champs added the United Insurance Division 1 Basketball Challenge Trophy with an 85-71 whipping of Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic last month [read more]
QUEENS COLLEGE have brought the two-step to Husbands.
Darren Hunte capped an MVP season with his most valuable performance yet, pouring in 20 of his season high 40 points in the third quarter as the league champs added the United Insurance Division 1 Basketball Challenge Trophy with an 85-71 whipping of Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic last month.
Their latest romp at the Wildey Gym provided the perfect finish to a truly historic season, where the Husbands institution culminated their first league title with a momentous double, while becoming the only school to hold the under-15 championship and the girls crown in the same calendar year.
And how fitting it was for Hunte to cement Queens Colleges supremacy with one of the most dominant finals showings in recent history.
What began as a dull, yet close 41-38 half-time affair soon became the prolific 6'2' swingmans personal platform for the MVP award and virtual highlight reel as Hunte single-handedly took the game away from Polytechnic.
At one point he scored eleven unanswered points in succession, starting with a lay-up, an ensuing hoop and harm in transition, a pair of free throws, followed by a spectacular up-and-under lay-up culminated by an emphatic one-handed dunk.
And it didnt help SJPPs cause any that their floor leader Tremaine Shaw sat through most of the carnage that was their opponents massive 20-7 run, as nothing dropped for the listless Pine side.
Remar Smiths lay-ups rimmed out, Justin Maloneys jumpers fell short and even Daniel Durants free throws back-rimmed while Hunte could do no wrong at the other end.
When he finally rested in the third, Hunte tallied all but two of QCs first 22 points of the period, with the lone blemish coming on an errant alley-oop connection between him and point guard Rawldon Weekes.
But Hunte wasnt done just yet, not even after the champs led 68-55 heading into the fourth, picking up where he left off with successive transition baskets to stretch the advantage to 17 (72-55) inside the first minute of the quarter.
Weekes and talented centre Antonio Sealy would join what turned into a lay-up line as Shaw never returned to the court, and neither did Polytechnics shooting form during their continued second half struggles.
Those woes were best summed up by Durants needless breakaway foul on a streaking Sealy, who nevertheless scored the subsequent lay-up to cement an 86-67 QC lead.
Sealy eventually finished with 13 points while Smith had a top score of 30 for SJPP.
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