PHILIPSBURG--Wilful Skilful from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) was crowned champion of Battle of the Fitness Basketball tournament at the L.B. Scott Sports Auditorium, last night.
Wilful Skilful BVI (Tortola) defeated St. Kitts in the final walk away with the trophy for the second consecutive year. The score was BVI 108 and St. Kitts 80. The first match on Sunday was played between Dominica Blazers and Dominican Republic. That match was won by Dominican Republic 85 to 74.
The fourth edition of the Battle of the Fitness comprised eight teams. They were Dutch St. Maarten, Aruba, Dominica, St. Kitts, BVI (Tortola), Holland Rep.(Players from the Netherlands living on St. Maarten), Dominican Republic and French St. Martin.
The final which was played in front of a packed auditorium turned out to be a one-sided affair. The dominant BVI team played a high quality brand of basketball which was far superior to the other teams.
They defeated French St. Martin, Dominican Republic and Holland Rep. in the preliminary round.
The MVP was #7 Killven Samuel of the BVI.
Dutch St. Maarten played three matches and defeated only Aruba in the tournament.
According to PRO of Battle of the Fitness, Curtlyn Warner, he told The Daily Herald that the fans who turned out nightly for the games, benefitted the most from this year’s tournament. He also stated that next year’s edition will be bigger and better. “We have already received calls from Barbados, Bermuda, Miami, Canada and Switzerland which have indicated a willingness to participate in the fifth edition in 2018.”
He told this newspaper that MSR Cable TV streamed the games around the world which helped to expand the tournament and wanted to thank the TV station for their contribution.
