Caribbean Times Newspaper
The Antigua Barbuda Basketball Association officially kicked off its 2017 season on Sunday at the JSC Sports Complex.
The day started with a short march pass inside the complex where a number of teams from the three divisions were on display.
It then continued with a brief opening ceremony where the title sponsor Digicel’s representative, Mrs. Janice Sutherland, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Sen. Collin James and President of ABBA, Darryl Matthew gave brief remarks.
In his address, Matthew highlighted the peaks of the last year of ABBA while also thanking YiDa for coming onboard to sponsor a cash prize of $10,000 for the winners of division one for this season.
The opening matchup of the night saw the two newly promoted teams in Division one, Harold Lovell Rockersville and Ottos Full Throttle formally Ottos Sweet BBBs go head to head.
Rockersville trumped Ottos,68-54 and were led by Ariel Quallis with 23 points and 9 rebounds.
He was assisted by teammates, Answorth Telemaque with 10 points and 16 rebounds and Kevin Joseph with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals.
Kevin Francis also contributed with 11 rebounds 6 assists and 4 steals to secure the win.
Shawn ‘Gizmo’ Williams of Full Throttle had 14 points with assistance by Kwame Payne with 10 points.
Kavari Francis grabbed 11 rebounds with teammate, Akeem James also grabbing 10 boards in a losing effort.
Two-time Champions, F and G Trading Cuties Ovals Ojays began their quest for a third straight title with a victory over Hometech System Outlaws in the feature match.
They were led by veteran, Marlon ‘Buju’ Charles with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
2016 Playoffs MVP, Kareem ‘Macky’ Edwards assisted with 12 points and 8 rebounds while teammates, Devorn Benjamin and Gerard ‘Dumbo’ Henry chipped in with 14 and 11 points respectively.
Captain Bryan ‘Hollywood’ Matthew grabbed 8 rebounds and had 5 assists.
Kevin ‘Pumpkin’ Roberts had 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in a losing effort.
He was assisted by the 2016 Carl Knight Most Assists award recipient, Andrew Venture who had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.