Last August, GK Youth entered the basketball team "GK1MB" into the CFC Sportsfest Competition, which was held at Emerton Leisure Centre. This team progressed all the way to the final, losing to the Hawks by 10 points. Despite the loss, the team members had forged new relationships with each other, which is evident in their GK Youth service today.
This year, two GK teams were formed due to the increase in interest from GK Youth. These teams are "GK1MB", captained by Chris Davidson, and "GKorps", captained by James Palomo. The teams were split evenly by the captains, to balance the talent on both teams.
On April 18th, these two teams went head-to-head. Initially, GKorps took a 5-point lead with solid scoring from Kris Alegrid & Austin Musa. However, the GK1MB defence started to take over, swarming GKorps' ball handlers and forcing turnovers. This aggressive defence combined with a solid scoring effort from Michael Dela Cruz gave GK1MB a double-digit lead by the end of the 1st half.
In the second half, GK1MB continued the stifling defence and high percentage offence. GKorps' Maurice Iglesia put up a valiant effort scoring 15 points with a fractured finger. In the end the score was 49-29 in favour of GK1MB. Michael Dela Cruz had a standout performance scoring over 20 points and grabbing numerous rebounds. Some key players from GKorps were unavailable for the game, so it is likely the next time these teams meet, the scoreline will be much closer.
"I'm aiming to drop 30 points on GK1MB next game!" Maurice said after the game.
Though there is a bit of healthy rivalry between the teams, combined training sessions are held. This is to emphasise the social side to the teams, as the aim of entering the competition was for GK Youth members to have a social avenue in addition to their service for GK.
