By Dean Greenaway (Special To The Daily News) From Virgin Islands Daily News

TORTOLA – Khalid Hart scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to lead four players in double figures as the U.S. Virgin Islands overpowered the Cayman Islands, 77-65, in Monday’s opening game of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Men’s Championships on Tortola.

“I thought both teams played hard and obviously we have a little more experience than the Cayman Islands,” USVI coach Samuel Mitchell said of his first game with the team. “Give their coaches and their players credit. They played hard. They understand the points system that you never stop playing.”

Hart was a key figure in getting the USVI’s offense going. With the Cayman Islands ahead, he sank a 3-pointer that tied the game at 18-18, 5:30 into the second quarter, triggering a 10-3 run as the USVI started pulling away to lead 33-24 at the half.

After Cayman Islands’ Shaad O’Garro, who was held scoreless in the first half, converted one of two free throws as part of his 12 second-half points following a Hart personal foul, the USVI went on a 15-2 run to go up by 19, 48-27. Deandre Simpson ended the run with his first points of the game and finished with 10 and seven rebounds. The USVI’s pressure on the Cayman Islands saw them outscoring their western Caribbean rivals, 52-26, in the second and third quarters.

“In the first half, weren’t executing on the defensive end and the U.S. Virgin Islands got into rhythm and that went on into the second half. Those guys got comfortable playing basketball and got into a rhythm,” Cayman Islands coach Edwin Pellot-Rosa said. “At one point, we got down 30 and we fought back. I’m pretty proud of my guys for fighting back.”

Craig Williams Jr., Georgio Milligan and Angel Rivera, scored 11 points each for the USVI, with Milligan also pulling down ine rebounds.

“For the first game, I thought we did a lot of good things. We turned the ball over a little to much, but it was the first game,” Mitchell said of the 14 turnovers compared to 10 for the Cayman Islands. “We didn’t get a chance to really scrimmage a lot because we were down on numbers because we really didn’t have 10. But for the first game, I’m pleased with the execution. I’m pleased with the effort, but we just have to take better care of the ball.”

Cayman Islands’ Jorge Ebanks had a game-high 21 points.

“He carried the load for us tonight as some of our other guards came out shaky,” Pellot-Rosa said. “They weren’t handling the ball. They weren’t handling the pressure the U.S. Virgin Islands was putting on us so that’s something we have to correct. We have to be strong with the ball and we definitely got to get better on the defensive end.”

Samuel O’Garro added 13 to the Cayman Islands’ tally.

The USVI, who trailed the Cayman Islands, 13-8, at the end of the first quarter, is off today and will face St. Vincent and the Grenadines at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Mitchell said they will use today’s break to work on shooting.

“We’re going to work on our rotations and defense and we are going to get a lot of shooting done,” he said. “I thought we had a lot of good looks in that first quarter, we just didn’t make them, so we have to do a better job shooting the ball. I have to do a better job making sure the we get more shooting time, so out of that hour of practice, we’re going to spend a good 45 minutes shooting.”

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