Jamaica’s London Johnson was named in the all-tournament team of the 2021 FIBA U17 Centrobasket Championship that ended in Mexicali, Mexico, on Sunday.

The 6’4” Georgia, USA-based point guard finished the five-day tournament as the top scorer with an average of 36 points per contest, scoring 40 points in Jamaica’s first two games, a loss to hosts Mexico and a win over El Salvador in Group B first-round action.

The high school player, who has caught the eye of several top colleges in the USA, also shot 56 per cent from the field in five games and 87 per cent from the free throw line, averaging 14 free throw attempts per contest, as he led Jamaica to sixth place in the tournament.

Edir Ortiz, who led Puerto Rico to the title, beating former champions Mexico 81-79 in overtime in the final played Sunday, was named Most Valuable Player, while the Mexican pair of Santiago Camacho and Victor Valdez and Edwin Daniel of the Dominican Republic were also named to the team.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Head Coach Trevor Poyser told the Jamaica Observer that for this group of players, which included 13-year-old Triston McDonald, to move forward it would require more support from all sectors.

“Moving forward with this group and any other group we’re going to need support from local entities and from the diaspora,” he said.

“We come up short against the stronger teams/programmes because of the development system they have in place. We need consistency and stability. We need housing, a facility to train and year-round programming.”

Jamaica finished third in Group B, winning one of three games, then beat Caribbean neighbour Aruba in the first Classification game on Saturday before losing to Panama on Sunday in the game for fifth place.

— Paul Reid