By RENALDO SMITH, NG Sports Reporter

renaldo@nasguard.com

After earning Player-of-the-Week honours two weeks ago, Cleaning Center Angels shooting guard Suzette McKenzie has to be one of the top candidates for the honour again.

The versatile guard capped off another impressive week on Saturday when her 38-point performance led the Angels to a 72-62 win over the Jr. All-Stars at the D.W. Davis Gym.

After the game, McKenzie talked about both her team's progression and her stellar individual play of late. "I think that we came out and did not play basketball at the level that we could play tonight. We only won the game by less than twelve points, and I think that was because everyone expected the game to be such an easy win, and it wasn't. We have to come into these games and play the same way that we play against the Truckers, and the Cheetahs, and the tougher teams in the league," she said. "Last week we had one of our key players, Sharelle Cash, was out and we usually share the scoring load, so I had to step up for us. I had to step up for us to win, and it just happens. As we go on we just have to play defense and we will be okay," she added.

In what was a match-up between the first-place Angels, and the last-place All-Stars, many expected the game to result in a blow-out. However, that wasn't the case as the All-Stars came ready to play and gave arguably their best effort of the season, against an elite squad.

The All-Stars played a solid first half, and trailed by just six at intermission (34-28). McKenzie led a third quarter push that allowed the lead to balloon to as much as 18 points, and the deficit proved to be too much for the young All-Stars to overcome.

The All-Stars' running game got the best of the Angels early in the contest, but then when fatigue set in during the all-important second half, the Angels, who had a better half court offense, prevailed. McKenzie penetrated the lane at will, and Keisha Richardson, and Felicia Cartwright did their part to secure the win defensively. The Angels had a chance to put the game away, but they simply went cold from the field at the wrong time.

Despite scoring just four points, Sanicha Taylor was all over the floor defensively for the All-Stars.

Phillipa Wallace poured in a team high 15 points, Tiffany Wildgoose had 12 points, and Deandra Williams added 13 points in the loss for the All-Stars. The lone win for the All-Stars this season came by default against the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Blue Waves earlier in the season, but the group of youngsters are being more competitive with each game they play together.

Chrysantha Strachan had 15 points, and Richardson added nine points to compliment McKenzie's monster game for the Angels. Despite winning by just ten, the two-time defending champion Angels is still the team to beat in the NPWBA.

With an impressive 11-1 mark, the Angels, who sit atop the standings, are clicking on all cylinders, and the return of three-point specialist Sharelle Cash to their line-up should only make them more lethal for the rest of the season as they prepare for the playoff stretch.

Caribs 67, Sunshine 50,

The third place Sunshine Auto Lady Cheetahs have had their way with many teams this season in the New Providence Women's Basketball Association (NPWBA). However, The College of the Bahamas Lady Caribs have not been one of those teams.

The Lady Caribs rode the backs of Christine Sinclair and Kimberley Rolle en route to an impressive 67-50 win over the Cheetahs this past Saturday at the D.W. Davis Gym.

The Lady Cheetahs opened the game on a 13-5 run, but it was a 22-12 run in the second quarter by the Lady Caribs that allowed them to pull away in the contest.

Sinclair finished with a game-high 27 points and six rebounds, and Rolle added 17 points and six rebounds in the win for the Lady Caribs.

They were the only two Caribs in double figures, and Danielle Capron added seven points in the win. Linda Pierre had a team-high 18 points in what was a rather low scoring affair for the Cheetahs. Brooke Smith, Lucinda Sylvain, and Tee Hanna added seven points each in the poor offensive showing from the Cheetahs.

The win was the second for the season for the Lady Caribs over the Cheetahs.

In their first match-up more than a month ago, it was Rolle who went off for a game-high 29 points to lead the Caribs to a tough 79-71 victory.