Win It All squeaked by Brothers, 35-29, Sunday to take home the 10th annual Labor Day Weekend Basketball Tournament for youths 19 and under.
Elisha Arnold, who was named most valuable player of the tournament, hit 10 of his 13 point in the first half to give Win It All a comfortable five-point lead, 22-17, at the break.
Win It All extended its lead to eight, 29-21, when Brothers rallied. They fought back to within four, 31-27, with a little over two minutes remaining. But a big layup by J’Moi Smith sealed the game for Win It All.
Smith finished with eight points in the contest. Jahmari Rivera led Brothers with seven points, and Michael Venzen and Cursim Hansen both chipped in with six.
In the battle for third place, 1st Priority knocked off All Coast Ballers, 56-48. Phillip Thomas knocked down six three-pointers on his way to a game-high 26 points. Salim Ross, who won the tournament’s sportsmanship award, added 17. Daniel Donovan had 16 points to lead ACB. Akiyo Neille and Jekoi Julius both finished in double digits for ACB, with 11 and 10 respectively.
The standings in the round-robin tournament were:
Win It All, 3-0
Brothers, 2-1
1st Priority, 1-2
All Coast Ballers 0-3
The tournament was sponsored by Zero Tolerance, a St. Thomas basketball organization that has been hosting age-group basketball tournaments for more than 10 years. Its sponsors include Financial Trust, which has been pitching in since the group formed, the V.I. government, LP Records and Entertainment, Pressure (Buss Pipe), Coca Cola Bottlers of the VI, and the West Indies Corporation.
Zero Tolerance’s next event will be age 9 to 12 "biddy" play scheduled to tip off in November.