Sports
Roneil Walcott
Spartans TT were crowned North Zone Under-17 Basketball champions after getting an exciting 85-80 victory over Coach KG Elite in the third and decisive match of their best-of-three series at the Woodbrook Youth Facility on September 6.
After losing game one 94-86 to the KG Elite outfit on September 2, like true warriors, Spartans showed their resilience to storm back and take the next two games of the series in dramatic fashion. On September 4, the Spartans snatched game two with a 90-85 triumph as Zachary Julien (33 points) and Idriis Martin (22 points) combined for 55 points.
In the final game of the series, KG Elite got a nice start as they jumped out to a 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the Spartans came back to take the lead at the halfway stage as they limited their opponents to just 12 second-quarter points to assume a 41-36 advantage.
In the third quarter, before a raucous crowd, the Spartans put on an elite defensive display again and limited their opponents to 14 third-quarter points to open up a 63-50 lead at the end of the period.
Led by the pair of Josiah John-Andrews (21 points) and JJ Edwards-Carraciolo (19 points), the KG Elite team fought back valiantly in the fourth quarter and cut into the Spartans’ lead. However, despite the KG Elite team pouring in 30 points in the final quarter, the Spartans nailed their free throws when they mattered most and registered 22 points in the quarter to hold on for a title-sealing 85-80 win.
The big three of Julien (25 points), Martin (25 points) and William Francis (23 points) came up clutch for Spartans as they combined for 73 of their team’s 85 points to see off the KG Elite threat.
Spartans athletic director Garvin Warwick was overjoyed with the win.
“This title is about more than basketball – it’s about discipline, teamwork and belief,” Warwick said, via a release. “The boys showed tremendous heart to come back and finish the job.”
