This past weekend, we came together to organize this special event to honor, Djony Timas, one of Cabo Verde’s legendary basketball player and also to promote unity amongst Capeverdean Americans. This was actually the beginning of something very special and we plan to utilize the sports vehicle to reach out to our youth and teach them the true meaning of being “Caboverdianos”. We are much more then how we have been portrayed and it is time for us to focus on the youth by mentoring, nurturing, and guiding them towards a brighter future.
The four team participants were: Kel Kau, Tabanka, Fidjus Terra, and Berdeanos who traveled from Rhode Island to be a part of this event. Much respect and love for all of the players who came to showcase their talent and sportsmanship. To my Brockton Y homies, I know what you are capable of but you guys struggled to get it going. Berdeanos played well in all of their games but was not able to pull one out. All of the games were nip and tuck throughout, the tempers were fleering but under control.
This was not all about wins and loses and by the way everyone one was a winner. All thought “nos criolos” are one competitive individuals, especially my boy, Yuka, ha,ha,ha, who was practically the sixth man on the court. The sideline was packed with fiery coaches, fans and players who yelled and cheered for their respective teams. This was a great opportunity to unite us and share the love we have for our fellow criolos. For me, personally, I could not stop smiling because I was enjoying being with my people, yes nha povu (sorry, my criolo is not that good).
In the finals we had the young energetic and fast Kel Kau team playing against the veteran and savvy Tabanka team, led by the sharp shooting of T. Barros. You could feel the tension and excitement in the air as the final two teams, Kel Kau and Tabanka, battled for supremacy and bragging rights as the KINGS of the court. Kel Kau and Tabanka had proven all weekend long that they were the best two teams, as they went into the Sunday afternoon championship games with an undefeated record in the two day tournament. This was a great back and forth action packed game in which Kel Kau quickly jumped to an early big lead but to see it evaporate due to Tabanka’s comeback. The game went down to the wire and Kel Kau had several key players step up their game in the closing minutes to hold off Tabanka. As one of the coaches said “this was a total team effort, even for the players that did play a minute”. This game featured non stop balling with in yo face jumpers, ankle breakers cross-overs, nasty rebounds and steals, clutch shooting and down and dirty DEFENSE (viva Kel Kau). A couple of memorable moments included, Tony’s (Tabanka) very deep treys, Lenny’s and Melvin’s strong moves, Tito and Moises lock-down defense and Joe’s rebounds, Nick’s lefty finger roll (lov the move, son), Carlos’s and Flavio’s tough D, and Shawn big time buzzer beater.
In closing, we would like to sent out some shot-outs to the Bird Street Community Center staff, our sponsors, the referees, Rob and his crew for their contributes and outstanding efforts in making this event a huge SUCCESS. See you all soon.
Singing out, Telo
By Telo
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