Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) rolled out a third blowout victory in the Schools Under-19 Boys Basketball Tournament on Tuesday. The college boys had their biggest win to date, defeating Entrepot Secondary School (ESS) 70-11 at the Beausejour Indoor Facility.
SALCC led 34-7 at halftime and further turned the screws in the second half of the game. Joel Desrivere had a double-double for SALCC with 16 points and 11 rebounds, whilst Tyler Hubain added 12 points and five rebounds.
ESS could not get anything going, hitting just 5-37 from the field, and 2-21 from three. They had 28 turnovers, though SALCC also gave the ball up 20 times. Half of the ESS turnovers, however, were converted into opportunities for the opposition, whereas the boys from Castries East couldn’t capitalise on the SALCC gaffes.
ESS also had just 14 rebounds, compared to 33 for SALCC, 12 of them off the offensive boards.
SALCC coach Andy Simons told St Lucia Times that despite the win, his team still has a lot to work on.
“A lot of things we still have to be working out in terms of the fundamentals of the game,” he admitted. “We had too many turnovers, which is really bad, especially at this level we are playing right now. So there are some things we still have to be working on. Hopefully, in the next two or three games, we can work on them.”
Simons said that overall he has been pleased with the level of enthusiasm and the talent that has been displayed during the course of this competition so far. Even some of the weaker teams at the moment have demonstrated
“What I see so far is a lot of talent,” he said. “In terms of the fundamentals of the game and the technical part of the game, we still lacking in some stuff, like a lot of turnovers, a lot of mistakes. But I understand that some of the guys are still learning the game. Many of the kids, they love playing, but they are not in camp for training.
“I’m happy to see that we have a lot of kids, but what we have to do there is just maintain what they have, and try to grow more.”
Group A leaders SALCC appear to be on a collision course with Soufrière Comprehensive Secondary School (SCSS), who also picked up a third win atop Group B on Tuesday. SCSS beat Corinth Secondary School (CSS) 58-40. Nathaniel Modeste had a game-high 31 points, to go with seven rebounds and five steals. Gordon Jones scored 10 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Alex Longville had eight steals.
Antoine Henry had a solid game for CSS, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sheruance Smith got to nine rebounds, Benjani Asambert eight, and Teige Flavien seven to keep Corinth in the game with their length.
The tournament continues on Thursday with a tripleheader at the Beausejour Indoor Facility, from 11 a.m.