Basketball: Latinos’ Andy Ramirez, left and Mystics’ Gary ‘The Glove’ Hillhouse led their teams with 36 and 31 points respectively

 Big Ballers finalists to be determined this weekend

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

The Big Ballers League A and B division finalists could be determined as early as Saturday night. With the Virgin Gorda Mystics eliminating the Latinos on Sunday, they await the winner of Saturday night’s East Rockers vs Rebels match. The Disciples and Fryers play in the opening contest at 6:30 p.m. then All Ah We will face the Guns. East Rockers, Disciples and All Ah We hold 1-0 series leads. The championships will begin on March 5.

The Mystics took control in the third quarter to beat the Latinos 97-75, during Sunday night’s game two to sweep the series. Andy Ramirez scored 30 first half points to help the Latinos to a 54-50 half time lead, but was held to six points in the second half, and finished with 36 points, 14 rebounds and three steals.

Gary Hillhouse—who scored 11 first quarter points—put the game away in the third quarter when he scored another 12, en route to the victor, as he tallied 31 points and dished out five assists. Devon Watts followed up with 22 points and 14 rebounds while Bruce Davis missed a double double with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Mark Noel and Garvin Stevens each tossed in another 10 points.

“This game was just preparing us for the second round which is going to be against the East Rockers,” said Mystics coach Arnold Collins, after watching the Rockers beat the Rebels 98-84, for a 1-0 lead. “One thing about this game, the Latinos were aggressive with us on the boards. That kind of prepared us for the East Rockers who are also aggressive on the boards. So, we are looking forward to the competition with them.”

Collins described Ramirez who won the league MVP award along with best center while averaging 33.9 points and 24 rebounds per game as a “Super player.” “Inside game, outside game, the guy works hard and go at every rebound,” Collins noted. “He’s a good guy.”

Big Ballers founder and President Rhodni Skelton said he was satisfied with the first full weekend under new regulations which everyone adhered to. “There wasn’t much resistance and I’m grateful to the public for that,” Skelton said. “The games were excellent. The last game between the Mystics and Latinos, for business sake, I would have hoped that the Latinos came out victorious and forced a game three. But it didn’t happen. The Mystics have been the best team throughout the season and they proved it again tonight.”

The Mystics opened their series with a 95-83 victory over the Latinos. Garvin Stevens led the Mystics with 22 points. Hillhouse who did not play in the first quarter, added 18. Keithroy Farrell tossed in another 15. Ramirez scored 18 of his game high 41 points in the fourth quarter. He also dominated the boards with 26 rebounds. Yeimi Sorriano finished with 17 points, five steals and five assists. Pablo Vasquez chipped in another 13 points.

In Sunday’s first game, David ‘Bolo’ Lettsome missed the first quarter but scored 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter, to carry the East Rockers past the Rebels 98-84, for a 1-0 edge. Lettsome also had 15 rebounds and four assists. Jahmal ‘Trigga’ Rabsatt poured in 21 points with seven assists and five rebounds. Melvin ‘Jahmouth’ Christopher followed up with 20 points and 13 boards, while center Dwayne ‘Kobo’ Penn tossed in 15 points and snatched a game high 27 rebound to go with four steals and three blocks. Shaun Newton finished with 12 points and 12 boards. Reynaldo Smith hit five 3-pointers—four straight in the fourth quarter for his 19 points. He also had seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Travis Fonseca added 17 points and eight rebounds. Jamal Todman and Akeem Titley, chipped in another 14 points respectively.

The Rockers advanced to meet the Rebels by eliminating the Hawkeyes 81-74, in the final single elimination game on Friday night, which was postponed from last week. Rabsatt had 22 points and Lettsome added 20, to lead the East Rockers. Lettsome snatched 14 off the glass and grabbed five steals. Kerry ‘Breeze’ Thomas contributed another 16 points. Sohi Frazer and William ‘Ice Willy’ Penn were Hawkeyes top scorers with 21 and 14 points respectively. Frazer also had 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals respectively.

On Saturday night, Jason Taylor triggered a 14-6 third quarter run with 10 of his game high 21 points, as the Disciples overcame the Fryers 83-74. The Fryers led 41-34 at halftime, before Taylor ran the lanes to score six unanswered points to start the Disciples’ third quarter comeback. After Taylor’s lay up made it 48-47, with 4 minutes and 31 seconds left, the Fryers called a time out but could only muster four points after the break. They were outscored 25-10 in the quarter, before going down to the 11 point loss. Devon Smith added 16 points for the Disciples and Halstead Chiverton tossed in 13 with seven rebounds. Wayne Campbell and Clifton Corum accounted for 35 rebounds, with Corum pulling 18. Campbell tallied 11 points and Corum contributed 10. The Fryers got 18 points each from McKenzie Baltimore and Caleb Liburd, who also had seven rebounds. Keith Smith finished with 14 points and 13 boards.

All Ah We outscored the Guns 28-9 in the first quarter en route to an easy 91-63 victory, as all its starters hit double figures. Edred Stoutt had 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals to lead the balanced attack. Nathaniel Malone and Curtis Maduro contributed 14 points each, while Charubin Smith and Shevron Reese added 11 respectively. Raheem Smith topped the Guns with 23 points and five assists. Cedric Smith poured in 18 and pulled 12 rebounds. Dudley Richardson put in another 12 points.

Millennium won a $150 grudge match with a 59-48 victory over Nuttin 2 Do, between teams that missed the playoffs. Gary Smith and Akiba Forde were Millennium’s leading scorers with 19 and 16 points respectively. Jason Fonseca carried Nuttin 2 Do with 15 points. Keon Edwards and Aldric Lans added 13 and 12 points a piece.