Philipsburg – The Soualiga Youth Basketball Association (SYBA) 2023 Championship League
season continued with a high energy under 13 (U13) game that brought fans to their feet. The
PSA Spartans faced the St. Peters Ballers. The PSA Spartans got into an early groove and
pulled away from the St. Peters Ballers by over 10 points in the first half. It wasn’t long before
the St. Peters Ballers regrouped to close in on the Spartans. The St. Peters Ballers took their
first lead of the game in the second half and persisted to keep the score within two points. The
Ballers capitalized on the missed free throws and turnovers by the Spartans bringing the game
within one point with less than thirty (30) seconds left in the game. A late foul allowed the St.
Peters Ballers to score a free-throw to tie the game and send it into overtime.
The St. Peters Ballers seemed to gain a second wind during overtime to successfully defend
and defeat the PSA Spartans by two points in overtime with a score of 34 – 36.
The SYBA held a moment of silence as tribute to honor the late Alberto Bute, the former
president of the St. Maarten Basketball Federation (SMBF).
Thursday’s games concluded with a match between Robbie’s Stars and the CIA Bullsharks in
the under 19 (U19) category. The CIA Bullsharks defeated Robbie’s Stars with a score of 45 – The CIA Bullsharks displayed better team chemistry and vigor entering this game. They
seemed determined to not repeat their previous performance that lost them the game against
the Spartans earlier this week. Players L. Maccalep and Y. Poisot turned on the heat to secure
the win for their team.
SYBA is still accepting team registrations until the end of February 2023. Please contact SYBA
if you are interested in registering as a team, coach, or student athlete. The contact email is
sybau19@gmail.com . “It’s great to see and hear the excitement in the air during the games. It’s
some of these student athlete’s first time suiting up and playing in an official 5v5 game and it
was refreshing to see how excited and focused they were.”, said Marvio Cooks, president of
SYBA.
