The Digicel Grenadines Basketball Championship came to an exciting conclusion on Saturday Night at the Clive Tannis Hard Court in Bequia.
The Union Island All-Stars defeated the Bequia All-Stars in overtime 59 to 54 to capture the coveted title of Grenadines Champions. Kevin Joseph led the scoring for Union with 17 pts while rookie Orando Blugh of Bequia contributed 12, including an impressive dunk, but Bequia fell short of victory. The Championship game was a dog fight all the way, no team leading by more than 6 points all night, giving the fans a nail biting finish to an excellent competition.
The Trophy presentation followed the games where individual and team awards were presented, courtesy of Adonal Foyle. Warrican Garrick of the Third Place team Canouan Islanders was awarded Tournament MVP for his impressive statistics throughout the 3 week competition. Individual Team MVP awards were adjudged as follows: Bequia Team MVP: Kirstin Lampkin, Mustique Team MVP Ishama McKree, Canouan Team MVP Warrican Garrick, and Union Team MVP Stevorn Taylor. Lampkin also took the trophy for most rebounds in the competition with 70 in 6 games, while Union MVP Stevorn Taylor was also awarded most assists and most steals with 22 and 21 respectively. Ishama McKree had the most points in the tournament with 117 in 6 games.
In Friday’s two Semi Final Games, Union Island defeated Mustique 112 to 51, and Bequia defeated Canouan 58 to 40, each earning a spot in the FINALS!
The patrons were addressed by Caribbean Basketball Secretary General, Sabrina Mitchell who is also President of the Bequia Association and Tournament Co-ordinator. She congratulated Union on their win and promised them that Bequia is coming to take away the trophy next year. She expressed her thanks to Tournament sponsors Digicel for making the event a reality. She thanked her able assistants in each island Philmon Taylor and Roseman Adams of Union, Alwyn James of Mustique and Rohan Henry of Canouan, ensuring that the tournament went smoothly in each venue. She also expressed thanks to Vinlec and Mr Hassan Williams who made stellar efforts to do important emergency repairs to the electrical poles on the Bequia court to enable game sin Bequia to play. Hon.Dr. Loraine Friday and Hon Terrence Ollivierre, Parliamentary Representatives for Northern and Southern Grenadines also spoke giving their support to the event and congratulating all winners and the Bequia Basketball Association for staging the tournament, which is an important event creating unity among Grenadines people. Digicel Representative, Colson Peters spoke on behalf of the tournament sponsor expressing his Company’s pleasure at being able to step up to assist in the Tournament. He gave Digicel’s commitment to continue as such for the next 3 years. He pointed out that since 2004 Digicel has been partnering with Bequia is developing basketball, having assisted with the purchase eight years ago of the large electronic scoreboard.
Mrs Mitchell confirmed that the 2014 Grenadines Championship is scheduled for May 2014.
Weekend Game Results.
FRIDAY NOV 22nd:
Game 1: SEMI FINAL: Union Island defeated Mustique 112 to 51
-leading scorer Union: Stevorn Taylor with 25 pts, 3 reb, 2 assts, 2 steals
-leading scorer Mustique: Glenn Smith with 19pts
Game 2: SEMI FINAL: Bequia defeated Canouan 58 to 40
-leading scorer Bequia: Kelan Eddwards with 12 pts, 4 reb, 2 steals
-leading scorer Canouan: Rohan Henry with 12 pts
SAT NOV 23rd:
THIRD PLACE GAME: Canouan Islanders defeated Mustique Icon 80 to 63
-leading scorer Canouan: Rohan Henry with 25pts
-leading scorer Mustique: Ishama McKree with 21 pts
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: UNION DEFEATED BEQUIA IN OVERTIME 59 to 54
-leading scorer Union: Kevin Joseph with 17pts, 4 reb, 1 steal
-leading scorer Bequia: Orando Blugh with 12 pts
