McCarthy guides Army to FemBA title

Inspired by an all-round performance from six-footer Jameela McCarthy, Defence Force was crowned champion of the Open Division, in the Female Basketball Association (FemBA) League on Sunday evening. The forward put on a grand display both offensively and defensively to guide the army/coast guard combination team to a 64-52 victory over Brian Chase Basketball Academy (BCBA) in the final of the "The Rebirth" League played at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua. McCarthy was later deservedly named the "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) after another double-double from the newcomer, producing a match-high 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. "Winning the FemBA 2019 MVP meant a lot to me and my team. It's a blessing. After being away from basketball for more than a year, I knew I still had some skills in me," said McCarthy with a chuckle. "I am one of the rookies on the team so being able to bring a high level of fitness, aggression, consistency, youth and my US College basketball experience help us to victory." McCarthy also had two assists and stole the ball five times despite the effort of BCBA who was without one of its leading young stars Nakiya Baptiste, who has averaged 15 points per game this season. She recognised the effort of the team saying: "Brian Chase was a competitive team. They bring a lot of fire. They bring a different style of play and the Defence Force brought the same and the best team won which was us." "I am proud of myself but still have a lot of personal work to do so I can be a better play both on an off the court. I look forward to a lot more female basketball in T&T," said McCarthy, who also praised the effort of the organisers of the league. "It was a good league, the crowd was good, the supporters that are. A lot of females came out and shout out to Alicia (Joseph) and Kyeon (Joseph) trying to bring back female basketball. I found it was a good league and may 2020 be a better year." McCarthy didn't do it on her own though she had great support in post-player Alicia Liverpool (15 pts/14 rebs) and shooting guard Janeisha Cassimy (12 pts/3 rebs). They did have some resistance form BCBA in the form of post player Allison Young, who scored a team-high 18 and grabbed 14 rebounds, and an ailing Annola Charles with 13 points and seven boards. McCarthy said, "Overall my team performance was great. The team itself was out for about two-three years so having them back says a lot. There is always room for improvement so we would take our offseason very serious and put in some work so that playing games becomes easier. "Our next short term goal is to finish strong at the North Zone Basketball League which resume on Friday, where we go up against the Police Service women's basketball team at the Jean Pierre Complex (Mucurapo).
Police finished third in the league after defeating Club Enterprise in the third-place playoff, 54-26.
Earlier in the Under-15 division final, Carrisa Ramdial was her fantastic self and led Club Enterprise to victory over Spartans TT, 81-36. Ramdial notched 29 points. BCBA finished third after a 43-32 win over Maloney Pacers Basketball Club and youth development programme.
Courtesy of: guardian.co.tt