The Tribune

SHAMAR Burrows may be a work in progress for the Ridley College Tigers, but he showed Tuesday night he has plenty to work with.

The 15-year-old native from the Bahamas is not only adjusting to a new style of basketball, but also to culture and life in Canada. It may not be easy, but Burrows is showing he’s ready to give it a shot.

The 6-foot-2 guard netted a game-high 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Ridley College Tigers breezed by the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 64-27 in the second round of the 52nd Standard High School Basketball Tournament at Ridley College.

In the consolation quarterfinal, the St Catharines Collegiate Saints were 57-24 winners over the Smithville District Christian Storm.

Rookie Burrows and four-year veteran Nick Green make a formidable twosome, with Green netting 18 points for the Tigers, many off feeds from Burrows, who was more than happy to reciprocate.

“Nick is making it easy for me,” the Nassau native said. “He gets himself open and gives me some relief when I want to play off the ball, and spots himself up at the three-point line very well.”

Burrows played under a different rules system in the Bahamas and “coming into a new system, it’s taken a bit of time to readjust myself to what Ridley College has here.

“But I feel I’m making a big impact on the team and making the adjustment. But there are still things I have to improve on as a player on and off the court.”

Burrows already has a big fan in St Catharines native Green.

“It was an easy building of chemistry,” he said. “I knew he was a point guard and knew how to distribute the ball, so right away I had confidence in him.

“After the first game, we kind of understood each other and it’s been easy going from there.”

Burrows found Green on a number of occasions when he wasn’t driving to the hoop or hitting a number of good outside shots. Both he and Green came off the court with two minutes to go in the third quarter and the game well in hand.

Head coach Walt Szpilewski has already seen an improvement in his young player. “He’s still out of control a bit at times, but each game he gets a little bit better. For a 15-year-old kid, he has a lot of upside to him. We’re quite pleased with the way he’s meshing with the other players. “It’s a different style of game up here for him, but he’s starting to fit in.”