After dominating for much of the proceedings, Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-16 women basketballers suffered a heart-wrenching 50-44 loss to hosts Nicaragua in their opening Centrobasket U17 Women’s 2023 Qualifiers, in Managua on Wednesday.
TT started well, settling early, and opening the scoring through Amariah Clyne. The girls in red looked solid on the defensive end as well, with Mariah Charles coming up with big blocks and timely rebounds to keep her Nicaraguan counterparts at bay.
Recognising TT’s deficit in playing personnel, Nicaragua employed a full-court press which wore the visitors down. But TT captain, Carissa Ramdial, took control of the game and her crafty handles kept them in the ascendancy throughout the first quarter, which ended 13-8 in TT’s favour.
Nicaragua had a better start to the second quarter, cutting TT’s lead to one point early on. Ramdial hit a long-range three-pointer to extend the lead before Clyne notched a tidy finish in the closing seconds of the first half for a 20-14 lead at the break.
At the start of the third quarter, Nicaragua was once again faster out of the blocks, knocking down an early three-pointer to get the home crowd on their feet. Ty Warwick helped in quieting the Nicaraguan faithful, going coast to coast off a defensive rebound and scoring both free throws after being fouled.
Ramdial hit another long-range three, and Clyne came up big with crucial points, but with the former going out of the game on multiple occasions due to injury, Nicaragua rallied and kept things close, finishing the quarter 35-30, with TT ahead.
Nicaragua however, struck first in the fourth quarter and kept that momentum to eventually take a 37-36 lead with just over six minutes to go.
Two long-range shots from Ramdial and Maya Raymond turned the game in TT’s favour, however, with Charles eventually fouling out, the home team managed another offensive surge which saw them go to front 43-42 with just over four minutes on the clock.
TT gave everything in the dying minutes but were visibly tired at this point, and had little left to regain the lead, with Nicaragua holding on for a 50-44 victory.
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