March 24, 2008 — Hundreds of V.I. residents took to the streets recently to pay tribute to the memory of 12-year-old La'Quina Hennis and commemorate the start of the first memorial basketball tournament held in her honor.
Spectators lined the streets all the way from Lockhart Elementary School — which Hennis attended — to Charlotte Amalie High School where the tournament kicked off Friday. The Sebastien Majorettes, along with several elementary school basketball teams and the JDPP Jammerz, took part in the parade, organized by Hennis' friends and family members.
Hennis disappeared almost a year ago, on Good Friday. Her body was later found in an abandoned house in Sugar Estate.
The tournament featured eight elementary school teams in the girls' division and 10 in the boys'. All the teams fought hard, but by the end of the Easter weekend only four teams were left standing with perfect records — including the Gladys Abraham and Leonard Dober elementary schools, which finished with matching 3-0 records on the girls' side. Ulla Muller Elementary and Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School finished with 4-0 records on the boys' side.
On Monday, the championships were set, with Gladys Abraham taking on Dober in the girls' pool. The first half was somewhat sloppy, with both teams making numerous turnovers and spending a majority of their time in jump-ball situations. They combined for 20 points, with Abraham taking an 11-9 lead going into the third quarter.
In the second half, both teams picked up the tempo, turning the game into a shootout. With three minutes left in the game — and with Abraham only up by four — leading scorer Kaliah Lloyd got injured and could not finish the game. With the team in trouble, and Dober making a run, Aniqua Swan and Tinea Hanley picked up the scoring load and carried Abraham to a 30-24 victory.
Swan led Abraham with 12 points, while Lloyd and Hanley finished with five points each. For Dober, Keanna Mills led her team with 12 points, while Kaytanne Greaves finished with five.
The trio of Lloyd, Swan and Hanley scored big throughout the tournament and this year's biddy basketball season, Abraham head coach Tinequa Christian said after the game.
"Dober always gives us a wonderful game, a wonderful match, but it all boils down to who wants it more," Christian said. "These three are my big three; they made it big all season. They've always been the push on the team, so after Kaliah went down, it was no surprise that Aniqua and Tinea picked up the slack. They left Glady's Abraham where we always are — champions."
In the boys' division BCB and Muller hooked up, with fans hoping for an exciting championship match. But the actual game proved anticlimactic, with BCB beating Muller by 19. The final score: 58-39.
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