Pacesetters blitz Raiders in ‘Road to Mecca’ basketball

By Treiston Joseph

After a brilliant opening night on Friday, the Pacesetters made last year’s ‘Road to Mecca’ finalist Retrieve Raiders look mediocre on Sunday evening when the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) national senior championships continued at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Pacesetters wasted no time in establishing their superiority over last year’s second place finisher with an 85-57 win against the Retrieve Raiders. While the Raiders kept it close through three quarters, never having a lead at any point, the Pacesetters used a massive fourth quarter run to put the game out of reach.

Sherlon Legal poured in 24 points in the win, while Travis Williams and Joslyn Crawford chipped in with 14 and 12 points respectively. The high point man for the Raiders was Karem Roberts with 14 points.

Meanwhile, Dynas Ravens rebounded from a shocking loss against the lowly Rose Hall Jammers on Friday to defeat Amelia Ward Jets 82-78.

While the shots were clanging off the rim on Friday, the shots were falling in on Sunday, especially for star guard Ryan Stephney, who dropped the only 30-point game of the tournament so far with an even 30 to help pull off the victory.

Darcel Harris also scored 15 points for the Ravens, while Tyrone Hamid and Sebastian Luke scored 10 apiece. The high point man for the Jets was Donel Benjamin with 20.

In the final game on Sunday, the Kobras got a hard welcome to the national scene with a 77-55 thrashing from Victory Valley Royals. 

Harold Adams scored a game-high 22 points in the win, while Yannick Tappin recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Travis Burnett was the only player in double digits for the Kobras with 18 points to go along with a game-high six steals. 

The ‘Road to Mecca’ tournament will continue on Wednesday evening (December 6) at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.