Team Saint Lucia will compete at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup – the fourth edition of this continental championship. The event will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the second consecutive time, December 12-15 at Distrito T-Mobile.
Seeded 12th out of 33 teams, Saint Lucia’s team includes veterans Sharmoir Baptiste and Troy Louison, who were part of the team that upset Argentina in 2021 in Miami. Cletuson Leon, the only member of the team under 30, is back for his second outing. Clayton William will make his national debut in this format.
Fourth-year veterans Louison and Jn Baptiste are looking forward to getting into the main draw at a minimum. “I expect us to come out of qualifiers and make it through the group stage just based on our experience throughout the years,” said Louison. “Because we will be playing teams that are just coming in the tournament.”
“This time around I find we are more prepared mentally and more physically,” added Jn Baptiste. “So our goal is just to get into the next round. Yeah, the first year was a shocker. We made it to the qualifying round. So our least benchmark is to get through the qualifying rounds.
“With William, we have a new player from the champions, and the top scorer, he just has to just bring what he did in the local league. With Cletuson, his second year, I find he got a little more aggressive. So we just need him to bring that aggression on the defensive end and on the offensive end. As a result of the two new guys, I find we got a little quicker as well, so we also have to use that to our advantage.”
Kala Guiste, president of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation (SLBF) said that preparation has been somewhat challenging, with uncertain weather and competition for use of the island’s only covered facility. But Guiste noted that going forward the intention is to do more to develop 3X3 year-round alongside the five-a-side game.
“Well, it is considered a key pillar in the development of basketball in our neck of the woods by FIBA. So we have to definitely give it some attention,” conceded Guiste. “One of the things that came out of our last affiliates meeting was to have a discussion, we need to have a serious discussion on it coming out of this tournament.
“Having said that, we do not want to compromise the development of the game. 3×3 is the dynamic aspect of the sport where your technique will be shown up immediately. If your technique isn’t right then you will not enjoy the game. So we have to get the balance of technical development right.”
Guiste also revealed that plans are afoot to have Saint Lucia enter a women’s team in the 2025 AmeriCup. Next year, a women’s team from the University of Guyana will be visiting, after Saint Lucia’s women’s team played in Martinique earlier this year, demonstrating the continued development of that aspect of the game.
Different than 5-on-5, 3×3 is played on a half-court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock. Play is continuous, as teams “clear” the ball behind the 2-point line following a made basket, defensive rebound or steal. The first team to score 21 points via 1-point field goals or 2-pointers behind the arc is victorious; or if time expires then the team leading wins.
Photo: (L-R) Williams, Louison, Jn Baptiste, and Leon are off to the 2024 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup.
