‘Fato’ dominates, as Southside grab clutch win over Oilbirds; NCA smell fourth spot

National player Ahkeem “Fato” Boyd put the shorthanded Southside Elite (9–1) team on his back at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Complex on Wednesday night, October 28, as he scored a season-high 41 points to will his team to an 82–75 win over the cellar-placed Morvant Oilbirds (1–9) to conclude the second round of the Electrical Industries Group Elite Basketball League (EBL) season.

With Southside missing All-Stars Jason Friday, Jelani Valley and captain Tyrik Singh due to national duty with Trinidad and Tobago’s 3x3 team at the FIBA AmeriCup, Boyd carried the mantle for his team to secure a win worth its weight in gold for coach Melissa Guerero’s unit. Boyd didn’t force the issue by any means, as he had balanced shooting across the board, knocking down four of his five two-point field goals, while knocking down six of 14 three-point attempts. It was at the line where Boyd arguably did the most damage, driving to the cup relentlessly to earn 18 free-throw attempts, knocking down 15 in the process. Boyd also added 12 rebounds and two steals in what was a fine all-round performance.

Southside didn’t have things all their own way in what could be described as a Maloney dogfight, as Oilbirds led 22–17 after the first quarter. Missing three-point specialist Tyrese Fields due to national duty, the Oilbirds welcomed the return of leading scorer Obel Guerra, who was coming off a one-game suspension. Guerra had 14 points, to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks, while Dexter Morien (13 points, seven rebounds), Kushaiah King (11 points, five rebounds, three steals) and Rashawn Hope (ten points, eight rebounds, three steals) also hit double figures.

By halftime, the Oilbirds lost the minimal control they had in the contest, as Southside jumped out to a 43–40 lead. The third quarter saw Southside gaining more momentum with a 63–53 lead at the end of the period, as Boyd took his tally to 32 points. Though the Oilbirds were guilty of missing several point-blank lay-ups in transition and shot just 58% at the line, they got timely stops and cut Southside’s lead to five (74–69) with 3:34 left in the game. Southside’s Clint Graham (14 points, 12 rebounds), who hit double digits for the second straight game, forced Oilbirds coach Shaka Dwayne Brewster to call timeout with 1:14 left after giving the southerners a 78–75 lead.

‘Fato’ says, “this is my house”

With the score remaining unchanged with roughly four seconds left, Boyd called game after completing a four-point play, as he splashed a three over Oilbirds captain Jonathan Thomas (eight points, six rebounds, three blocks) while drawing contact. Cheered on by his twin brother Ahkeel “Smally” Boyd, Fato made it known to Thomas and the Oilbirds squad that the Maloney arena was definitely his house.

While Fato did the heavy lifting offensively, Southside fans should also tip their hats to centre Jerrell Doorbal, who filled in for Singh and Valley by grabbing nine rebounds, to go with two blocks, a steal and four points.

NCA intensify race for Big 4, pip Spartans

Southside went level with the table-topping Caledonia Clippers (9–1) with their win, with the second game of the Maloney double-header giving the NCA Warriors the chance to go level with the fourth-placed Spartans TT. At the end of 40 fiercely contested minutes, NCA did just that as they eked out an 86–81 win, leaving both teams with a 3–7 record. The Garvin Warwick-coached Spartans team are just clinging on to fourth spot thanks to their head-to-head points differential, with the upcoming third round sure to see an almighty fight for the four playoff spots.

From the opening tip, the teams held nothing back, with cross-talking and physical play being the recipe served up by the two young squads. By the end of the first quarter, the Spartans led 22–21, but NCA battled back in the second quarter to take a 39–37 lead at the half. Though he didn’t start the game, NCA’s leading scorer JJ Edwards-Caracciolo was still influential for his team, leading the way with 17 points and four steals. Meanwhile, Spartans’ leading scorer William Francis was in his bag early, and tallied 12 first-quarter points en route to a game-high of 24. Critically, Francis found himself in foul trouble, which perhaps stalled the flow of the Spartans offence.

In the third, NCA made a habit of getting out in transition, as active hands in the passing lane led to easy buckets at the other end. In total, NCA picked off 19 steals which contributed to 25 turnovers from the Spartans. NCA flirted with a double-digit lead and held a 65–57 advantage going into the fourth, with Spartans opening up the final period with a 5–0 run before Francis picked up a fourth foul with 8:38 left in the game.

With Francis on the bench for a key stretch, NCA opened up a ten-point lead (72–62) with roughly 5:30 left as the Spartans were held scoreless over a three-minute span. A ten-point gap swelled to 13 (82–69) with 2:33 left in the ball game after a lay-in by Raanan Howard (ten points, seven rebounds, three steals), with NCA smelling Spartan blood. There was a late push made by the Spartans as guard Idriis Martin (11 points) cashed in with a few field goals, but the night belonged to NCA who got the five-point win, making up for the 19-point loss they suffered in the teams’ round-one meeting.

Edwards-Caracciolo and Howard aside, Amari Scott (12 points, seven rebounds) and N’Kobie Ince (12 points, five rebounds) also hit double digits for NCA, while Nicholas Strawter had eight points, four assists, six rebounds and three steals. For the Spartans, Zachary Julien (11 points, five rebounds) joined Francis and Martin in double digits.

This Saturday, October 31, NCA will fancy their chances of getting a crucial fourth win of the season when they take on the Oilbirds in the second game of a double-header at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sport Arena in Tacarigua, while the Spartans will anticipate a much sterner test when they face the Clippers. Just last Saturday, the Clippers put the clamps on the Spartans to run away with an 88–64 win in round-two action to stretch their winning run to eight games.