Basketball City (October 16th 2011):- The Ghaut Bucks are the 2011 SKABA League Premier Division Champions. A massive crowd turned out to Basketball City to see The Westbourne Ghuat Based team play their hearts out to beat the defending champions Rams Energizer Hitters to win their first SKABA Title. After losing game 4 most basketball pundits declared that Ghuat Bucs will have a very difficult task in winning Game 5 against the much more experienced Hitters. However the bucs proved all the pundits wrong when they came out and outplayed and out scored the Hitters in almost every quarter. Bucs led at the end of the 1st quarter 22-17 then again at the half 42-34. The 3rd quarter saw Bucs increase their lead to a fairly comfortable 65-48 advantage. The Bucs entered the 4th quarter brimming with confidence after building themselves an impressive 17 point lead. However Hitters showed true mettle and resilience when they clawed themselves back to within striking distance of then Buc when they trimmed the Bucs lead from 17 to 5 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. Ghaut Bucs handled the Hitters run well and was able to keep their composure and stave off the Hitters late 4th quarter onslaught. Despite key players Dwight Mac 11 Jacobs and Tamboura Tambie Caines fouling out late in the 4th quarter the Bucs were still able to resist the Hitters run and win the game much to the delight of the hundreds of Ghaut Bucs and basketball fans that jammed Basketball City. The final score saw Ghuat Bucs beating the defending champions Rams Hitters 86-80 Ghuat Bucs top scorer Tambora Caines (186-F-80) was named Finals and Regular season MVP. Top Performers in the SKABA 2011 Finals Game 5 include: Ghaut Bucs Kimo Liburd 21 pts 13 rebs Tamboura Tambie Caines 17 pts , 5 assts. 3 stls Sherwin Allen 13 points Dwight Mac 11 Jacons 10 points 4 rebs Jermain Benjamin 10 pts 5 assists Rams Hitters Marlon Jah Love Powell 24 pts 6 rebs 5 assists Ansel Bonzi Revan 16 pts, 5 rebs, 2 assists David Dowell 12 pts 10 rebs 2 stls Marvin Skywalker Davis 14 pts, 10 rebs, 5 assists, 3 stls Anthony Jabal Joseph 10 pts, 10 rebs Fig Tree wins regular season. SKABA Final Four tips off this Sunday - Sep 18, 2011 The SKABA Final Four is set and former Champions Fig Tree are on top of the heap as they ended the regular season as the top dawgs in SKABA and thus the number 1 seeded team heading into the final four playoffs which begins on Sunday 18th at Basketball City. Joining Fig Tree in the Final Four will be seeds 2 to 4 namely Ghaut Bucs, Horsfords Ghetto Roots and last years Champions Rams Hitters. Ghaut Bucs had an exceptional season and can be easily characterized as the most improved team for the season while Ghetto Roots and Hitters have both maintained their status as 2 of the elite teams in SKABA. Notably absent from this years final four are St.Pauls Tuff Knots and last years finalists the Cotton Ground Rebels. The Tuff Knots seemed well on their way to winning the regular season as the return of their BIG 3 (Javid Williams, Noren and Nasharn Maynard) resulted in the team recording some very impressive blow-out victories over Ghetto Roots, Hitters among others. However the team was expelled from the league after violating SKABA rules when they forfeited 2 games . SKABA rules state that any team that forfeits 2 games shall be automatically expelled from the league. Some may argue that had Tuff Knots not been expelled the final four might have been slightly different as the 4th seeded Hitters may have been out of the loop. The CG Rebels were unable to duplicate their cinderalla season of last year but remain one of the most feared teams in the league. The Playoffs tips off on Sunday 18th with the Number 1 seeded Fig Tree playing Number 4 seeded Hitters in Game 1 and in Game 2 number 3 seeded Ghetto Roots will be playing number 2 seeded Ghaut Bucs. Both games will be the first games of 2 best of 3 series to determine who will face off in the finals. President Romel Tobias commented I think the decision to take games to the rural areas paid huge dividends for us as we are in the middle of September and despite the many rained out games that had to be re-scheduled sometimes 2 and 3 times over we are able to begin the playoffs in mid-september, something which we have not seen for some time as over the last few years we have seen the finals began as late as the first week in November last year it began in the last week in October and even with rain delays we expect that the entire season will be done before the 3rd week in October . Fig Tree will no doubt have to be seen as early favourites to win the playoffs as they have won the regular season and have been playing very well behind recent college graduate Kemo Shasta Duncan who has returned to the team after completing his 4 year college basketball scholarship stint in the US. Ghuat Bucs are the surprise team as they ended last season on the brink of being relegated to the A divison. However this year the inclusion of Tamboura Tamby CAINES has made them a very formidable team. Ghetto Roots will be without the services of former national players Troy Jasbo Wattley and Rymal Bally Browne. Jasbo recently left the team to pursue studies overseas while Bally was suspended 5 games and has already served 2 which means he will not be in this first round playoffs. If Ghetto Roots advances to the finals however Bally will be available. Ghetto Roots will have to rely on Berlie Francis who has been having an exceptional season along with the veteran Kiethley Hicks who despite playing for over 20 plus seasons in the league still remains one of the better big men in SKABA. Hitters are without one of their key players from the last 10 years of their dominance and that is Shawn Shabba Forbes who returned to his home team Challengers where he has been successful in bringing that team to a likely Premier Division berth for next season. With Shabba out Hitters will once again have to depend heavily on the much tried and tested shoulders of the legend Trevor Huggins (183-G-66) who like Kim Collins seems to be aging like good wine. Marty at 45 is still the best shooter in the league and no doubt one of the most potent scorers. Ansel Bonzy Revan and Marlon Jah Love Powell provides Hitters with a very good back court and they along with marty will have to work overtime for Hitters to repeat. The final four is wide open and who will advance to the finals is anybodys guess. |
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