Latinos' Andy Ramirez, drives through traffic to score two of

his 21 points vs All On Da Line

 Bad Boys Shockers ousted in playoffs opener

BY DEAN GREENAWAWY

The Big Ballers single elimination playoff series at the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Road Town continues tonight, after two upsets when the series began last Friday, with the Fryers and Rebels stunning Bad Boys and the BVIEC Shockers.

“This was a good win for our team after the troubles we’ve gone through,” said Fryers coach Dean Simmonds, after Bryon Barzey converted one of two free throws with 8.0 seconds left, giving the Fryers an 89-88 triumph over the Bad Boys. “Some guys quit, but tonight, the guys here fought and showed that they wanted this game. This victory gives us a chance to move on and like everyone else, tries to win the championship.”

Barzey finished with 10 points. Caleb Liburd had a game high 33 points, with eight steals and six assists. Keith Smith contributed a 16 point 16 rebounds double, to go with five assists and five blocks. Keithley ‘Bait’ Liburd poured in another 13 points. Keyon Thomas led Bad Boys with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Calvin Smith tossed in 18 and had eight rebounds and four assists. Roger Frank and Keito Canton added another 13 points respectively. Frank also had five rebounds and six assists.

The second stunner was recorded when the Rebels overcame a 67-61 third quarter deficit, en route to a 99-87 upset victory over the BVI Electricity Department Shockers. The Rebels capitalized on the absence of Alton ‘Sugar’ Vanterpool after he injured his knee and had to leave the game. Vanterpool who had 14 points, five rebounds and three third quarter steals, worked in unison with Brian Blyden who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds to keep the Shockers in the lead.

In Vanterpool’s absence, the Rebels controlled the boards in the fourth quarter. Jamal Todman recorded 27 points and seven rebounds. Shaun Morris led a trio of double doubles with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Reynaldo Smith contributed 16 points and snatched 10 boards, while Paul Linton tossed in 12 points and pulled 16 off the glass. Ronnie Simmonds had a game high 28 points to lead the Shockers. Tori King added 12 and recorded 17 rebounds.

The Guns avenged an earlier loss by eliminating Off De Chainz with an 88-73 victory. Dudley Richardson hit three 3-pointers to finish with 23 points. Cedric Smith followed up with 20. William Leonard had 18 points to go with eight steals, six rebounds and five assists. Gregory Romney poured in another 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Roger Farrington led Off De Chainz with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Raymond Mercer and Dalvern Blyden narrowly missed double doubled. Mercer had 15 and nine rebounds while Blyden settled for 11 points and nine rebounds. Off De Chainz were just 5 of 24 from the free throw line.

Ronford Todman scored 27 of his 34 points in the second and fourth quarters, in leading the Disciples past the Rejeks 96-69. Todman also had 10 rebounds. Jason Taylor added 16 points, with four steals and four assists Devon Smith was ejected in the third quarter—his third ejection this season—to finish with 14 points. Wayne Campbell tallied 12 more points. Glenroy Jennings led Rejeks with 25 points. Wayne Robinson hit five of eight 3-pointers to finish with 18 points and six rebounds. Brian ‘Bash’ Brewley tossed in another 13 points and seven rebounds.

Following a scoreless second quarter, Andy Ramirez scored 15 of his 21 points in the third and fourth quarters, to lead the Latinos to an 83-64 victory over All On Da Line. The Latinos led 25-8 through the first two minutes of the second quarter, before being outscored 40-32 over the next 18 minutes as All On Da Line pulled within 55-48 at the end of the third quarter.. Ramirez, the league’s scoring and rebounding leader who had 52 points and 40 rebounds in a mid week overtime loss to the Rebels, pulled down 22 rebounds and had four steals. Yeimi Soriano and Rony Holiday added 16 points each. Pablo Vasquez chipped in another 15. Kennerh Heiliger led All On Da Line with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Vere Brown and Neville Skelton contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds a piece.

The following are the league leaders at the end of the regular season; Most Points; Andy Ramirez 33.9 per game. Most Rebounds; Andy Ramirez 24 per game. Most Steals; Dalvern Blyden 81. Most Assist; Cedric Smith 73. Most Blocks; Vere Browne and Keith Smith 23. Best Guard; Caleb Liburd. Best Forward; David Lettsome. Best Center; Andy Ramirez. MVP; Andy Ramirez.

Meanwhile, league founder Rhodni Skelton has announced a series of policy changes with immediate effect, measures he says are needed to make the whole playoff and championship environment fun and better for everyone involved. To this end, he said extra security personnel have been hired to enforce the rules.

Skelton said everyone will be searched and screened with a hand held metal detector before entering the building. Ladies will be asked to open their purses while men will be searched. “It’s not that we want to make it a restrictive environment, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Skelton noted. “That’s what I’m hoping to achieve by some of these new measures we are having in place.”

Everyone must have a seat in the downstairs area surrounding the floor. No one should be standing around the court, in the hallways, bathroom areas or behind the scorers’ booth, Skelton explained. “If you want to stand, you’d be asked to go upstairs and you can do that there if you like,” he pointed out. “We don’t want anyone crowding the floor, that way the referees can have room to do what they have to do as this will also give us better vantage points of anyone who tries to cause a disturbance.” No loitering will be allowed in the lobby area, unless persons are purchasing drinks from the bar either.

Skelton is advising parents who he has seen coming and dropping off their children and going about their business, to discontinue the all too common practice. “I will not be held accountable for children found running up and down the halls. They will be put outside and parents will have to collect them there,” he warned. “This is a basketball arena. You are here to look at games, not to have your kids running up and down as if it’s a playground.”

Any player involved in the playoffs found disrupting any game—by walking on to the court, throwing things on the court or harassing a referee—will not play in the next game he said. “There will be no warning whatsoever,” Skelton assured.