BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - LOCAL basketball officials are looking to use the recent victory in the Leeward Island Basketball Association (LIBA) Tournament as a launching pad to further enhance the sports discipline in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Playing in Anguilla, the local boys dominated the tournament winning all of their group games before blowing out the British Virgin Islands on Saturday (Dec. 19) to bring home the trophy.
General Secretary of St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA), Wallis Wilkin indicated to SKNVibes Sports that the victory means a lot to the local basketball fraternity, as it is expected to spur the development of the sport in a more comprehensive manner.
This victory, the GS noted, gives the SKNABA officials a clearer picture on where the level of the sport is in the Federation with regards to standards.
“For a few years, we were a bit worried that our standards were really not on par regionally. We were not able to test that because we have not really been in any tournament. That is, regional or sub-regional tournaments.
“This definitely gives us an idea of where we are at. Some observers might say that on paper this might not have been our best team or best players, but definitely we did the job.”
Basketball in St. Kitts and Nevis has been at the crossroads for many years, and this year it was met with several disappointments including the junior team’s withdrawal from a Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Tournament and a conflict of interest suspension that is yet to be fully resolved.
Wilkin reiterated that the Association would be using the victory as a re-energising tool for basketball on the local scene, adding that for far too long the sport had been “somewhat stagnant”, thus needing such a victory to “jumpstart it”.
“I think that this is what we needed. It is now just for us to take advantage of this victory and use it moving forward in terms of the overall development of the sport in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Coming off the victory, there is an expectation that the local basketball presence would be felt at more regional competitions such as the Caribbean Men’s Basketball Champions, in which St. Kitts and Nevis, SKNVibes understands, has not participated for some 10 years.
“Coach [Glen] Phillip is confident that we can be very competitive at the regional level, bearing in mind that we have a few players who are playing at a very high level overseas. We do have players who can compliment this team and make it a very competitive one at the regional level, that is the CBC level,” Wilkin disclosed.
During their play in Antigua from December 13-17, team St. Kitts opened the competition with a 77-64 victory over the British Virgin Island before returning to down Barbuda 65-45.
Progressing to the Semi-Finals, the team brushed aside Montserrat 64-52, with Nashorn Maynard topping with 28 points.
In the Finals, St. Kitts again defeated the British Virgin Island 73-57 with Maynard top scoring with 20 points, while grabbing 16 rebounds to guide his side to the title and bragging rights.
