HLSCC Stingrays' Nigel Williams studies his opponents before making a pass

 Virgin Gorda Mystics mystify All Ah We 73-69

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

In its first two games in the BVI Big Ballers League, the Virgin Gorda Mystics are demonstrating they will be a force to reckon with. Even though they trailed All Ah We for most of the first three quarters on Saturday at the Multipurpose Sports Complex, they literally turned the lights off on their opponents with just over a minute in the game.

“In preparing for this team, we know Morris (Wattley) is a good coach with a well prepared team so we had to come out hard,” Mystics coach Arnold ‘Shockers’ Collins explained. “They started aggressively, but we recovered in the game and came back well.”

All Ah We jumped out to an early lead, which they held until the 4 minute and 36 second mark in the third quarter, when the Mystics tied the game at 45-45, and never relinquished the lead. The Mystics outscored All Ah We 27-15 in that crucial quarter. The game was tied at 64-64 and 68-68, with 2:01 left. And then came the night’s most mystical moment. With All Ah We seizing the momentum then getting a foul, the lights went out as they trailed 71-68 with 1:02 on the clock. After the 33 minute black out, All Ah We missed four of five free throws when play resumed, and the Mystics walked off with a 73-69 victory.

Wattley said the delay with 1:02 on the clock hurt his team. “We had the momentum, just foul and going to the line and they had a little panic in them,” he noted. “The lights went off. I guess the Lord saved them.”

Wattley said it was a good game and the better team won. “I think the fans enjoyed the game,” Wattley said. “We missed some shots then got some extra rebounds as I would call it. They made a run and everybody in basketball makes a run and they end up ahead.”

Collins explained that his team realized that they had to clamp down defensively in the second half in order to make up for the deficiency on offense. “In a close game like this, it sets the tone to let the team know that they can play in close games,” Collins added. “We had a blowout victory in our first game and it’s good to know that the can feel confident playing in a close game.”

Garvin Stevens had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Mystics. Gary Hillhouse and Trevor Stevens added 14 and 13 points each. Curtis Maduro had a game high 23 points to lead All Ah We. Eustace Freeman contributed another 20 and Edred Stoutt 10.

Virgin Gorda’s Jr. Mystics had a blowout 109-59 triumph over the Bulldogs. Travis Issac just missed a triple double with 35 points, 10 steals and eight rebounds. Richie Morton tossed in 18 points. Lee-Evans Jacobs and Tristin Creque contributed 12 and 11 points, with Creque also grabbing 12 rebounds. Kyle Scatlffe scored 20 of his game high 36 points in the second half for the Bulldogs. He also had nine rebounds and four steals.

Caleb Liburd had 36 points and Denfield ‘Doc’ Solomon added 22 in helping the Fryers a 113-77 victory over Nuttin 2 Do, their first after two losses. Liburd also had seven rebounds, eight assists and eight steals. Karl ‘Dub’ Scatliffe finished with a 22 point, 14 rebound 11 assist triple double. Jason Fonseca topped Nuttin 2 Do with 30 points. Adino Lans and Aubrey ‘Kong’ Frett poured in 17 and 12 respectively. Frett also pulled 11 rebounds. Keon Edwards added another 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Squad Up dealt the HLSCC Stingrays their first loss, 67-56. Squad Up won the game on the line by making 17 of 21 free throws, while the Stingrays were just 8 of 20 from the charity stripe. Kareem Scatliffe led Squad Up with 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Dion Smith added 14 points, grabbed 17 boards along with nine steals and six blocks. Jerome Barnes threw in another 13 points. McKenzie Baltimore topped the Stingray with 21 points, six steals, four assists and four rebounds.

On Sunday, David ‘Bolo’ Lettsome had a game high 33 points in leading the East Rockers to a comfortable 39 point 95-56 victory over All On Da Line, in trio of blow games. The East Rockers opened with a 27-8 run and led 54-18 at halftime.

Lettsome who had 18 points in the second half, also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out five assists while grabbing six steals from All On Da Line, who were coming off a 77-53 victory over Millennium. He was joined by four others in double digit scoring. Center Dwayne ‘Kobo’ Penn finished with a 14 point 16 rebound double double. Brent Henry and Shawn Newton tossed in 13 points respectively, while Jahmal ‘Trigga’ Rabsatt added 11. Neville Skelton was All On Da Line’s leading scorer with nine points.

Keyon Thomas scored 17 of his game high 30 points in the first quarter as the Bad Boys easily routed the Apostles by 47, 113-66. Roger Frank was the spark in the second quarter when he scored 14 of his 20 points, as the Bad Boys built a 69-34 halftime lead. Frank dished out six assists and had four rebounds while Phillip Glasgow chipped in 19 more points along with six steals.

Tyron Tyson and Nicholas Laurac had double doubles of 24 points and 13 rebounds and 20 points and 12 boards respectively for the Apostles. Devon Leteen contributed another 13 points.

The Jr. East Rockers outplayed winless And One in a 27 point 90-63 victory, by dominating all aspects of the game. Leslie Smith had a 10 point 23 rebound and 13 block triple double for Jr. East Rockers. Garvin Frett poured in a game high 28 points and seven rebounds. Travis Malone tossed in another 24 points and while grabbing 18 boards, dishing out five assists and snatching four steals. Saheed Collins finished with 13 point 12 assists double double with another four steals. And One scoring was lead by Ray Victor’s 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also had six steals. Brian Brumant contributed 11 points to go with seven rebounds, seven steals and five assists.