East Sonics' Melbourne Francis, left, prepares to drive past East

Rockers' Jahmal 'Trigga' Rabsatt

Big Ballers League Jr. division championships this weekend

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

The Virgin Gorda Jr. Mystics and the Jr. East Rockers will meet in the first game of the best of three, BVI Big Ballers League Championship series tonight at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday, at the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Road Town.

Jr. Mystics’ Travis Issac led them to an 80-75 victory over the HLSCC Stingrays in Sunday’s deciding game. Limited to a 3-pointer in the first quarter, Issac scored 18 of his game high 29 points in the second and third quarters in the victory after both teams played to a 40-40 halftime.

“It was a very competitive game and we knew this was the game we needed to win to go forward against the Jr. Rockers,” Jr. Mystics assistant coach Donny ‘Cumba’ Smith said. “In the locker room at halftime, we decided to come out playing man on man and after we made our first shot, we would press them. If the press was broken, we would go back to playing man on man from half court,” Smith explained.

Issac—who had nine rebounds and seven steals—hit one of his four three pointers late in the fourth quarter, after the Stingrays went on a 8-0 run, cutting a 13 point deficit to 74-68 with 2:08 to play. The Stingrays contributed to their demise with numerous turnovers while converting just 18 of 34 free throw attempts

Stingrays coach Morris Wattley said it was a tough game. “The free throw line was the difference in the game,” Wattley explained. “We had a nice game plan to take it to them inside. We got a couple of their guys in foul trouble and they fouled out. But, we were just missing the free throws,” he noted. “We had some bad possessions with turnovers and the Jr. Mystics made some quick baskets. I wouldn’t say the game was out of reach. The guys tried. They played to the best of their ability.”

Junior Fredericks had 13 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. Rickie Samuel tossed in 10 points, seven rebounds and grabbed four steals. McKenzie Baltimore and David Suzana led the Stingrays with 21 points respectively. Nigel Williams added 10.

Smith said they are looking forward to meeting the Jr. Rockers who they beat 76-58, during the regular season. “I believe we should play a better game against Jr. Rockers,” Smith said. “We had a very competitive game with them early in the season but we overcome them, but, the Stingrays are a better team.”

In Sunday’s first game, the East Sonics opened with a 24-9 run and went on to beat Millennium 91-58. K.C. Sampson had and 18 point 10 rebound double double to lead the Sonics. Vince Pickering poured in 16 points to go with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists. Meckriel Pickering finished with a 16 point 16 rebound double. Henry Varlack paced Millennium with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Akiba Forde and Neville Smith added 12 and 10 points respectively.

Trailing 79-69 with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter of the night cap in their game with the BVIEC Shockers, the Virgin Gorda Sr. Mystics demonstrated unsportsmanlike behavior by walking off the court following an official’s call. “Basically, the players decided not to play because the scorers are stealing the game, especially the clock man,” Coach Arnold Collins said. “We don’t have a problem with losing—we don’t mind losing the game—but let’s play the game fair and the way it should be played.” The Mystics were 7-0 heading into the game.

On Saturday, the East Rockers blew open a game that was close in the first half, for 106-73 victory over the East Sonics and won bragging rights in the East End Long Look Community, while winning their sixth straight and improved to 6-1.

David ‘Bolo’ Lettsome scored 15 of his game high 31 points in the third quarter, as the Rockers outscored the Sonics 66-32 in the second and third quarters, after leading 24-23 at the end of the first. Lettsome snatched 15 rebounds, dished out five assists and grabbed five steals in helping the East Rockers improve to 6-1.

The East Rockers used 3-pointers from Jahmal ‘Trigga’ Rabsatt, Brent Henry and Kerry ‘Breeze’ Thomas to trigger their run, while also capitalizing on turnovers and fast breaks. Rabsatt had 25 points and dished out eight assists. Henry added 17 including three of four from the 3-point line. Thomas poured in 14 points with seven assists and 3-treys. Center Dwayne ‘Kobo’ Penn chipped in 13 points and dominated the glass with a game high 17 rebounds. Melbourne Francis led the East Sonics with 28 points. Meckreil Pickering tossed in 20 points and pulled 10 rebounds. Vince Pickering and Jevon Springette added 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Bad Boys opened the game with a 30-6 run and Mo Sallah finished with 16 points, while Ricardo Farrington, Abraham Tarabay and Calvin Smith tossed in 15 points respectively, in a 91-62 victory over the winless Nuttin 2 Do. Tarabay also had eight rebounds and six steals and Smith grabbed eight rebounds. Elmando Malmehon added another 12 points. Jason ‘Mad’ Fonseca paced Nuttin 2 Do with 18 points. Andre Lans chipped in 17 and Keon Edwards contributed a 13 point 12 board double double.

The Rebels kept their playoffs hopes alive with an 89-80 triumph over Last Minute. Travis Fonseca led all scores with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Reynaldo ‘Crossover’ Smith and Arthur Titley contributed 24 and 14 points a piece. Jamie Hopkins had Last Minute’s top score with 24 points. Jerry Martin finished with 24 and Benson Thomas had 11.  Cedric Smith narrowly missed a quadruple double and settled for 23 points, 12 boards, nine assists and nine steals, in leading the Guns past the Apostles 89-73. Troy Smith and Gregory Romney pitched in 18 points each. Romney also grabbed 13 rebounds. Dudley Richardson added another 13 points. Roger Phillip led the Apostles with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrone Noble poured in 16 and grabbed 14 off the glass. Elton Charles and Mike Nichols added 14 and 12 more points.  Angel Rodriguez led a trio of Latinos players in double figures in their 65-47 victory over Pure Playaz. Rodriguez had 16 points and was joined by Andy Ramirez with 15 and Yeimni Soriano with 14. Claudio Ortega was Pure Playaz leading scorer with 15.