killer instinct

Through determination and pure killer instinct, the undefeated Yellow Bumblebees are the new champions of the ‘The People’s Tournament’, after filleting the Blue Barracudas 75-64 at the St. Michael School on Sunday night.

The final night of the epic youth charity tournament hosted by Premium Academic and Sports Academy (PASA) promised a showdown and in front of well over 100 spectators, the Bumblebees and Barracudas did not disappoint. Without losing a single game previously, the Bumblebees were the clear favourites to take the crown but the Barracudas darted to the front early, showing the bees that they were meant to be in the final, leading after the first quarter 19-23, courtesy of overseas based player Kurt Lambert with 8 points.

Lambert continued to swim circles around the Bee defence and put up another 8 points in the second quarter. Of course the Bumblebees would respond and the small in stature but big on the court, Deroni Hurley led the charge, not with points but with court vision. Hurley found a trailing Dijon Hunte after a steal, and Hunte smoked the trey to give the Bumblebees their first lead of the game, 26-25 with 5:30 left in the half. The Bees hit 4 treys in the quarter but the blues were still ahead 37-39 at the half.

The second half was a battle to see who would crack first under the pressure with both teams were playing high level defence. Hurley and Hunte took turns marking Lambert as he brought the ball down and that did not stop Lambert from scoring at times but it pushed him exert alot of energy. By midway through the third, it was clear that the Barracuda was fatigued even though he was still playing hard. Seeing the fall in production from Lambert along with a bad call by Barracudas coach Tehron King made the bees start to swarm.

King rested Kaleil Austin, Justin Bramao and Lambert with just over a minute and a half to play in the third. However his bench seemed shell-shocked by the repertoire of crossovers and hesitations in Hurley’s pockets. Hurley went to work and in short time, had the Bumblebees up 58-51 by the end of the third. King had taken too much experience off the court for too long a period and Hurley immediately took advantage, much to the delight of his fans in the bleachers.

Throughout the fourth, it could be seen that the Hurley and Hunte had decided to kill the clock and on the other end, the Barracudas looked desperate in their shot selection. Centre, Adriel Brathwaite had a quiet three quarters with 8 points but rose to the occasion to seal the fate of the floundering Barracudas. Brathwaite scored 8 points in the fourth and met many a Barracuda at the ring to reject their effort, starting a fast-break down the other end.

The Barracudas did hit back to back threes, by Justin Bailey and then Justin Bramao to cut the lead to 69-62, but they would only score 2 more points in 4 minutes and saw the clock run out, losing in back to back finals. Hurley copped three awards on the night, finishing as the top point guard as well as having the most steals and assists in the tournament. Brathwaite grabbed the most rebounds and blocked the most shots and also was the top centre of the competition.

Green Grasshoppers player Kyrone Alexander was the tournament Most Valuable Player and also had the most points in the competition with 134 points, playing 1 game less than the finalists. His teammate Primus Walrond also joined him as the two top forwards in the tournament while guard Brandon Ruck won the other trophy.