April 13, 2002 – At the open house of Antilles School's new Mark C. Marin Center on Saturday, the host school won both divisions of the 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Then, in the headline event, Jamz Squad took the Knight Quality Stations All-Star VIP basketball game, topping the Kissers 41-32.
The on-court activities began at 10 a.m. with the preliminary rounds of the 3-on-3 tourney's middle school and high school divisions, with the half-court games playing for a little more than an hour.
In the middle school division, the And 3 team from Antilles School defeated the Panthers, also from Antilles. And 3 team members were John Percy deJongh, Kim Moodie, Matthew Smock, Kheryn Callender and Mac Anderson.
In the high school division, Antilles, represented by Ricky Counts, Yuri Peterkin and Anna Wheatley, was the winner.
But the All Star VIP basketball game is what brought more than 1,000 spectators to the new sports center on the Antilles School campus.
Participating in the game for Jamz Squad were Randy Knight, Nick "Big Daddy" Friday, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Sebastiano C. Paiewonsky of A.H. Riise, former boxer Julian "the Hawk" Jackson, Doug Gurlea of V.I. Cement, Robert Luke of 105 JAMZ, IRB director Louis "Lolo" Willis, Stacy Smalling of the UVI Lady Bucs and Calvert White. White, the son of Sen. Celestino A. White, is the starting shooting guard in the European Professional Basketball League for the Gunco Rotterdam in The Netherlands. UVI's athletic director, Peter Sauer, coached Jamz Squad.
The Kissers team comprised Mark Bastin, Kishma "KV" Vincent, Reginald "Ras Regg" Martin and Julien Baa of Knight Quality Stations plus Sens. Donald "Ducks" Cole and Carlton "Ital" Dowe, St. Thomas-Water Island Administrator Louis Hill, former Lt. Gov. Derek Hodge, Monyka Johnigan of the UVI Lady Bucs, Richard Spenceley III of Spenceley Office Equipment, Osbert "Sweetback" Potter of the V.I. National Guard, Clifford Graham of the V.I. Housing Finance Authority, Vaughan Belcher of Players, Ogami Wilson of TV2 and Steve Parris of the St. Thomas Source. Stanley "Pappy" Smith, assistant commissioner of Housing, Parks and Recreation, coached the Kissers.
White dominated the game with an alley-oop dunk and a breakaway dunk early in the first half. The game was tied at 23 at halftime, thanks to an 8-2 run by Jamz Squad in the final six minutes of the half.
Jamz Squad came out on fire in the second half and quickly built a 10-point lead, 34-24, midway through the half. The Kissers had no answer for White, who led all scorers with 16 points. Gurlea added eight points for Jamz Squad. Knight scored one point from the free throw line. Baa and Wilson each scored nine points to lead the Kissers.
Throughout the morning and into the early afternoon a community expo took place in the center's east lobby, featuring information and sign-up for after-school and summer programs to be held at the center. Tours of the new facility were given throughout the day.
The "Centennial $20,000 Shoot-Out" was held at half-time of the All-Star VIP basketball game. None of the three participants who held the winning raffle tickets for the shoot-out could hit the four shots in 24 seconds needed to win. However, everyone seemed to enjoy trying.
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