Marian Academy overcome 19-point deficit to beat Saints 70-59 and win Georgetown Conference
BY KIEV CHESNEY
To be down by 19 points in the second half of a basketball game is bordering on a blowout. It is a position that few teams can come back from, and usually the time when the coach gives his reserves their first sweat of the game.
Lorenzo Bethune received the Best Defensive Player Award
But last Sunday evening, June 26, Marian Academy refused to go quietly into the night. They refused to disappoint the many family members, friends and other supporters who almost packed the western end of the Cliff Anderson Sport Hall. Remarkably, Marian managed to not only overcome a seemingly unassailable 19-point deficit, but to beat Saint Stanislaus College by 11 points, 70- 59.
By virtue of winning the Georgetown Conference Finals of the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) National Schools Basketball Festival (NSBF), Marian Academy has clinched one of the four number one seeds for the championship round of the NSBF, which begins on July 01.
Sunday’s epic final lived up to all the hype, with the two best teams in the Georgetown conference proving their prowess. Underdogs Saints seemed to have finally found the way to beat Marian Academy, who had a perfect 5-0 record entering the game.
Having scored the first six points of the battle, Saints fell behind but were always within striking range with their explosive scoring guard Neil Gordon. Gordon registered a game-high 28 points and scored 18 of his team’s 34 first-half points.
Saints stuck to their whole-court pressure defence and managed to come from behind, down by eight (17- 25), to take a 34-29 lead at half- time with a 17-4 run. Gordon had consecutive steals in the backcourt during the final seconds of the first half and cashed in on the lead for his team.
AwardBest Scorer vs MVP: Neil Gordon (left) who was awarded the Best Scorer award battles with tournament MVP Ruel Ritch (right dribbling ball) for possession during the epic Georgetown city conference finals. On this possession, Ritch picked off the ball from Gordon and got into the open floor
Saints surged ahead even further during the first five minutes of the second half when they scored 16 points and restricted Marian to just two points. At that point, Marian had lost all momentum, with their leading players missing layups and open shots. Gordon’s forward Lorenzo Bethune banged his body in the low post and grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with eight points. Saints’ three-guard Kevin Higgins also scored 13 points. With such a commanding lead, Saints no longer showed the urgency on the offensive end, and Marian progressively worked their way back into the game. Tequain Vieira drilled one of two second-half threes with just over ten minutes remaining to cut an eight-point lead to five (47- 52). Vieira’s shot was one of the crucial momentum changers.
Marian’s star point guard Ruel Ritch, who had 15 points, regained his confidence and once again he was efficient, as in the first half when he scored ten. Squash star Jason Ray Khalil also dropped a three-point dagger to put Marian ahead 59-55 after his team reclaimed the lead.
Stunned and probably winded, Saints were unable to muster any last minute heroics, and Marian’s star players took over the game. Even though he was afflicted by cramps and limped the entire period of possession, Dale Beresford scored a tough lay- up after Ritch threading a needle to find him flashing in the paint. Vieira caught afire down the stretch, swooshing a lethal 16-foot jumper that faded in the face of a defender, after taking it hard to the hole to cash in on a lay-up on the previous possession.
To finish things off, Marian’s captain Vieira drained a three-pointer with less than five seconds to go, to put the icing on the cake in what turned out to be the best come- from-behind win of the tournament thus far. Vieira, who is also his school’s head prefect, ended the game with 18 points, but it was Ritch who was adjudged the conference’s Most Valuable Player after consistently leading his team’s offence in their six-game winning streak. Ritch managed three steals, three assists and three rebounds, to accompany his 15 points in the finals.
Gordon, who had also swished 38 to sink School of the Nations in the semi- final, was named Best Scorer of the Tournament, while his centre, Bethune, was given the Best Defensive Player Award.
In the supporting game, Nikkoli Smith scored 28 points with eight rounds and six against, as Plaisance Secondary pulverized Nations 70- 45.
Nicholas Cassius had 15 points three assists, six rebounds and four steals for Plaisance, while Dino Choo-wee-naam top scored for Nations with 22 points and six rebounds.
