BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER months of waiting and a court battle, the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA) will host the finals of the A Division, beginning this evening (Apr. 6).
The best of three championship series would be contested between the Sandy Point PRIDE and the Wolf Pack.
Director at the PRIDE organization Denver Mike, did not give many details but confirmed that the game would be played this evening.
He told SKNVibes Sports that the PRIDE received correspondence to that effect.
“We are in receipt of a notice that the final ought to be played on April 6th,” he said.
SKNVibes understands that the notice cleared the two-week window which is the time the court stipulated by which all teams should be notified of the impending finals.
A guarded Mike said that when the day of the games comes, the team would be ready to go and play its best.
“We have been looking forward to the finals for a very long time and we are going to be ready to play.”
The PRIDE organization and the SKNABA have been at loggerheads over the last eight to nine months, over the way several PRIDE players were suspended.
As was being reported by SKNVibes, the SKNABA suspended three players for that team for their role in a brawl at a junior match.
According to information obtained by SKNVibes Sports, “on the day in question, members of Sandy Point PRIDE were seated in the stands in support of the Sandy Point Falcons (junior team). Apparently, there was a dispute amongst the juniors, and in the absence of any security personnel at the complex, many spectators, including a number of senior members of the Sandy Point PRIDE and other clubs, proceeded to the court to help restore order and safeguard the youth players.”
That saw the referees writing to the Games Commissioner, who it is alleged to have “submitted the report to himself and arbitrarily made a determined ruling to have the players suspended”, Team Manager Randy DeSouza told SKNVibes last year.
That saw the PRIDE moving to the court to get redress, after the players appealed and the appeal reportedly took place in absentia.
The SKNABA was moving ahead with the staging of the finals without the Sandy Point PRIDE team.
The court ruled in favour of the PRIDE sending them to the finals and paving the way for them to play the Wolf Pack.
Asked about the controversy, Director Mike told this media house: “Our organisation has put that to rest and we are not releasing any other information.”
However, by virtue of making the finals, they have been promoted to the First/Premier Division for 2017/2018 season.
“It (the promotion) means a lot for the PRIDE considering that we are a new team, and last year was the first time that we had joined the association. To see that we have done that speaks to the level of talent that we have in our team and the support that we give to our guys.”
The games would be played at Basketball City.
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