Daniel Quinland is a relative unknown in local youth basketball but is part of a contending team.
Quinland, 16, is the starting shooting guard for the Esso Blazers in the Appleby Under-19 Basketball League. Heading into this week the Blazers are 3-3 and firmly in fourth place, the last playoff spot for the Cayman Islands Basketball Association competition.
The George Town native is well aware time is running out on the season and his focus is already on the postseason.
“We have a secure spot in the playoffs,” Quinland said. “All of us are ready and coming with fire. We got a great team and right now I’m proud to call the guys on the Blazers my team-mates.”
Quinland, in his second U19 campaign, has put up decent numbers. He is averaging 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game with stellar outings last month against John Gray High School (17 points) and the Grand Pavilion Shockwaves (14 points, eight rebounds).
Under head coach Carlos Pastor and assistant coach Shawn Pitterson, Quinland has emerged as a solid second scoring option behind point guard Brad Galbraith (12.7 points) and centre Oscar Rivers (15.7 points, 12.8 rebounds).
All have kept Esso in striking distance of third place Shockwaves (also 3-3), second ranked Bodden Town (4-1) and league leaders Wolves (5-0). Meanwhile the Blazers are ahead of 1-4 Wesleyan Christian Academy and 0-5 John Gray.
In fact, Esso recently clipped Wesleyan for the second straight time 53-50. For Quinland that victory eliminated any thought of Wesleyan, a preseason playoff favourite, making a comeback.
“That win put us in a good position. They gave us a run for our money but we’re a way stronger team than Wesleyan. I don’t see them beating much of the other teams.”
The U19 competition has been a challenge for Wesleyan, after a stellar U16 competition earlier in the year. The West Bay team has been relatively the same throughout both tournaments, headed by Travis Stroup and Tim Corbett. Stroup, 15, was especially broken by the loss to Esso after notching 26 points and seven rebounds. However the West Bay resident remains hopeful.
“That game came down to free throws and I missed mine at the end,” Stroup said. “If I made them we would have won. We played our best team ball all year. As a team we have played great and come together defensively.”
Hope is also there for a John Gray side under coach Errol Grey for a second straight season. Stats-wise, there is little comfort for the high schoolers who have struggled as much as last season. However the squad has a promising player in big man Kaseen Penn, 13, who is from Prospect. Penn states the team can get better with more ball possession.
“I know we don’t pass much and we can do much better than we have done,” Penn said. “We can get better with more passing. We didn’t do too good (earlier this season) but we can do it and turn it around.”
On Tuesday, 8 November, the basketball association court off Eastern Avenue sees four squads in action. Esso battles BT at 6pm while John Gray tangles with Wesleyan at 7.30pm.
Related Videos
