TK Sports Club held the USVI 2023 Elite Hoops Takeover 16U and Men’s Basketball Tournament this past weekend at the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School gymnasium. The event featured four teams in the 16U Division, while six teams populated the Men’s Division.
The four teams in the 16U Division played a round-robin format in the opening round. St. Thomas’ Prawcess won all three games in the first round, while the only loss for Positive Guidance from St. Croix was to Prawcess. X-Treme and Jah Youths were the other two teams in the division. Prawcess escaped with a 46-39 win during the first encounter with Positive Guidance. The Crucian team was missing their big man, Lenroy Richardson, for that game. Richardson was back for the semifinals, making a positive impact for his team as they defeated X-Treme 52-41. He scored 14 points and registered nine blocks, leading his team to the final. Jah Youths forfeited their game to Prawcess in the other semi-final game.
The championship match lived up to all the hype. The two teams played at a very high level and the game was close the entire way. The largest lead for either team all game was just seven points. This one came down to the last possession. Prawcess’ Lewis Penn missed a three-pointer with less than 20 seconds in the game and his team trailed 43-42. Positive Guidance’s Richardson got the rebound but Penn stole the ball and darted to the basket, making the game-winning lay-up with under ten seconds to go in regulation, giving the Prawcess a 44-43 win.
Top performer for Prawcess was Penn with 14 points. Teammate K’Nard Calendar added eight points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Richardson was the star of his team, recording a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The guardian of the paint also turned away five shots. Micah Jones contributed 11 points for Positive Guidance. Calendar, of Prawcess, was the top scorer and rebounder for the tournament with 42 and 35 respectively. He also took home the MVP honors. Teammate Jaden Dowe recorded the most assists with 10. Guidance’s Richardson collected 16 blocks for the tournament. Nyack Natheniel, also of Guidance, won the Most Steals Award.
The men’s division showcased six teams who presently reside throughout the entire U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the States. Last Loss and 100 Shots were the two surviving teams who made it to the championship game. This was also a highly intense and very competitive game. 100 Shots jumped out early and built a 16-point cushion in the second quarter. However, Last Loss came storming back and even held the lead in the fourth quarter. As they seemed to be putting it all together, there was a power outage that lasted for about 10 minutes. Once the lights came back on, both teams fought hard all the way to the final buzzer but it was 100 Shots who came away with the 61-59 victory.
The top performer for 100 Shots was Zion Jones, with an amazing performance of 20 points. It truly shows his toughness as he is still recovering from a severely injured shoulder, his shooting shoulder. His brother Jahmai Jones also poured in 15 points for the winning team. Neem Olivache led the way for Last Loss with 16 points. The tournament’s top scorer, Khalid Gerrard, dropped 10 points in a losing effort.
Gerrard led the men’s tournament with 62 points. Bobo Derweer of 100 Shots was the top rebounder, snagging 34 boards. 100 Shot players also took home top blocker, Jevon Philpott (7) and most steals, Aquan Renault (12). Derweer was named tournament MVP. Aubrey Daniel of Last Loss was the tournament’s best distributor, tallying 19 assists.
Tabari Williams, the organizer of this event, has lofty goals for the tournament and its participants. “We put on this event to showcase the local youth and men’s division players on a higher scale so that the VI community and others can see that our athletes have the potential and skills to participate in any athletic competition especially when done consistently,” said Williams. “We want this to become an annual event so children in the next generation can continue to look forward to showcasing their talents at this event. We want to continue to bridge the gap between sports in the territory and the mainland by offering more of these high-quality events.”
