Mike Kinsella (213-C-84, agency: 24-seconds, college: Marquette) signed with Kaposvari KK! American forward played three games in January for Dombovar, he replaced injured Du Juan Wiley for a while! Now, he will play at least three games with his new team. The management of KKK will decide about keeping him for a longer time later.

Slovakian NT point guard, Robert Nuber (186-G-83) broke his contract with Albacomp, as he did not get too much play time. Rumors say, that he will get back to Slovakia to play for one of the first divison teams.

ZTE KK extended the tryout-period with Marko Piplovic (206-F-76, agency: Interperformances), so croatian power forward will play in the next two games for sure.

Dear readers...U all might be aware of the Robinson saga....(if not read the archives)...Its the time for u to send ur opinion on this issue. The best views will be published here...

u can also send it in ur suggestions...

Payback never tasted sweeter for the Boyd Anderson boys basketball team than it did Saturday.

In danger of being swept in the season series by Dillard, the Cobras, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, staged a furious second-half comeback and stunned Dillard 61-52 in the BCAA Big 8 Boys' Basketball Championship at Fort Lauderdale High.

Tournament MVP Martavious Irving, sparked the rally with nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. Senior 6-8 forward Ivan Aska had 10 points and 13 rebounds and junior Bryan Bynes added eight points for the Cobras (24-1), who extended their winning streak to 20 games.

With 2:51 remaining and the Cobras clinging to a 52-49 lead, Irving converted an acrobatic layup over Dillard 6-8 center Kore White while being fouled, which sent the Boyd Anderson faithful into a frenzy. On the play, the 6-2 Irving elevated over two defenders, hung in the air while absorbing the foul from White, and calmly banked in the shot.

He then converted the three-point play with a free throw which capped a 12-0 run by the Cobras.

Earlier in the period, Irving helped to swing the momentum of the game with a straight-away three-pointer and a driving layup to bring the Cobras to within 49-48 with 5:38 remaining.

That set the stage for Aska to give the Cobras the lead for good on a pair of free throws with 4:03 left to make it 50-49.

''My teammates told me coming out in the third quarter when I hit the first three, that is what sparked them to play better,'' Irving said. ``This is probably going to inspire us to take it all the way to the state championship.''

Ultimately, the Panthers' inability to execute under duress in the fourth quarter proved to be their downfall. Boyd Anderson, which turned up their man-to-man defense in the second half, outscored the Panthers 18-3 in the final period.

The Panthers' lone scores during that stretch came on a dunk by Nigel Spikes, who finished with eight points, and a free throw from Javier Frazier, who had nine points.

''In the second half Boyd Anderson came out a little bit more aggressive,'' said Dillard coach Darryl Burrows, who is seeking his fifth state title. ``I could see my kids were not responding to their aggressiveness. They were aggressive on the glass and we tended to stand around a little bit. We have to move on.

``We start our district play next week. Boyd Anderson is a great team. Both teams got a challenge. Hopefully both teams will be in Lakeland.''

Robert Burger and White each had a team-high 12 points for the Panthers (21-2), ranked No. 2 in Class 5A.

Outside of a Bynes alley-oop dunk off an assist from Tyrone Davis to open the game, little went right for the Cobras early on.

Aska, who has provided a tough inside presence through the Cobras' best start in history, went to the bench with 5:07 after picking up his second foul while trying to draw a charge on Dillard guard Robert Burger.

Only 37 seconds later, with Boyd Anderson leading 8-6, senior forward Frank Gaines, the Cobras' most reliable outside shooter, followed suit.

White followed with a tip-in dunk but the Panthers were never able to fully capitalize on the Cobras early foul trouble and it came back to haunt them.

With Dillard holding a 37-27 halftime lead, Boyd Anderson changed the complexion of the game by going to a full-court press.

It paid dividends immediately with the Cobras going on a 14-3 run. It started after Javier Frazier hit a running layup to give Dillard a 44-29 lead with 4:07 left in the third.

''I told the guys when we came out in the second half to play with heart,'' Aska said. ``They had us down but I knew we had this. The biggest difference in our team this year is we are a family now. We have one mission, one purpose, one direction. That is how we have been playing.''

Dill (21-2): Burger 12, White 12, Frazier 9, Hardy 5, Reliford 6, Spikes 8. BA (24-1): Irving 20, B. Bynes 8, Gaines 7, Aska 10, Flood 6, Davis 3, C. Bynes 7. Three-pointers: Irving 3, Gaines 1, C. Bynes 1, Frazier 1, Burger 2. Rebounds: Aska 13. Assists: Davis 7. Steals: Davis 4.

Bring on Dillard.

With Bryan Bynes hitting daggers for three-pointers, Boyd Anderson broke open a close game to defeat District 11-6A rival Blanche Ely 76-43 in the Broward County Athletic Association's Big 8 Boys' Basketball Championships semifinals at Fort Lauderdale High School on Friday night.

The victory sets up a dream matchup in Saturday's Finals against Dillard (21-1, No. 2 in 5A), the only team to beat the Cobras (23-1) this season.

Dillard got a first-half scare from Miramar in the late semifinal but regrouped to beat the Patriots 56-33.

Boyd Anderson remembers all too well when Dillard rallied to beat it 67-61 at Dillard on Dec. 1. Since then, the Cobras have reeled off 19 consecutive victories and climbed to No. 1 in the 6A state polls.

''Revenge, that is all I have to say,'' said Cobras guard Martavious Irving, who finished with 12 points. ``We let that game slip away quickly, right before our eyes. I'm sure when we play them again, we will win the game.''

Frank Gaines led the Cobras with 18 points, and Ivan Aska, of St. Croix, added 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Bynes had 17 points and Tyrone Davis, who has run the Cobras offense well this season, added eight points, seven assists and four steals.

But it was the hot three-point shooting of Bynes' which turned the outcome against Ely. After both teams played to a standstill in the first quarter, Bynes sparked a 13-6 run at the start of the second quarter with three three-pointers, including back-to-back three-pointers to put the Cobras up 27-20 with 3:22 left.

After each three-pointer, Bynes displayed the passion of this cross-town rivalry with a Tiger Woods-like fist pump.

''Anything Bryan does is going to spark us to have a good game and play better,'' Irving said. ``Whether it's a three-pointer or the dunks he does, it is going to give us a lift.''

Ely guard Jean Jacques ended the drought with a bank three-pointer from the left wing. But that relief proved temporary. The Cobras closed the period on 6-0 run and took a 33-23 halftime lead on a two-handed dunk by 6-8 center Marc Davin's off a crafty penetration and dish from Davis.

It proved to be academic from there.

Martavious Irving scored seven of his 12 points in the third quarter as Boyd Anderson outscored the Tigers 21-12 in the third quarter.

WAKEFIELD TRAVELS TO ST. THOMAS
Wakefield boy's varsity travels to the Virgin Islands over the weekend to take on a couple of high school teams. Wakefield will arrive to the Virgin Islands 13-5 and just came off a dominating victory over Wakefield Country Day 79-39. St. Thomas native Eric Wilson, a sophomore guard, had 23 points in the win.
Wakefield is set to take on Antilles School Monday evening and then the #1 school in the territory Charlotte Amalie on Tuesday afternoon.
2/4/2008
6:45 p.m. Virgin Islands Trip (Antilles School)
2/5/2008
5:00 p.m. Virgin Islands Trip (Charlotte Amalie)

Guaiqueries de Margarita denied the statements made by forward Rogers Washington (202-F-77, college: LSU) representatives in previous days and that were published in Latinbasket.com Venezuela through an e-mail reply made by Maruja Guevara, general manager ol the LPB 2007 champions.

'The organization of Guaiqueries de Margarita fully denies the public statements made to the international basketball website of Latinbasket where we're linked in an unpleasant way with player Rogers Washington, who is a well recognized player and is respected as a teammate of ours. We use this same way to make a clarifying statement', says Guevara in the first part of the text.

'The part where it says that we want to pay him less money than last year for his work is false. The real situation is that, during the last season he was paid a salary. Now in 2008, the president of the team, Rodolfo Tovar, as every year, and now that we were champions, decided to raise the salaries. Rogers, despites that raise, wants to be paid an amount that we can't cover as a team and he also made some other exaggerated requests that neither Guaiqueries de Margarita nor any other team in Venezuela, can grant him with', she added.

'Tovar himself wants Rogers to play for Guaiqueries de Margarita and they are even in the middle of negotiations for that to happen, but an agreement hasn't been reached. With plenty of conscience we say that Rogers is an extraordinary player, but there are no stars here and the only star is the team as a whole, the same team that battled through the 2007 season to be a champion. Besides all of this, we have Washington in our plans but not from day one of the season, cause it's going to be a long one and his support would be more important for us in the latter part of the regular season and the playoffs, but only as long as we can reach a mutual agreement with him', says the official statement.

'Without anything else to say and hoping this situation is now clarified, we say Rogers has the doors of our team open to come back, but only after we reach a proper agreement'.