Sports
Jaysean Paige Shines In Puerto Rican Basketball League Playoffs – Jamestown Post Journal
Jun 26, 2023
Jaysean Paige has had quite a basketball odyssey since he led Jamestown High School to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA Final Four in 2011. The photo above is when he played for the Maine Red Claws of the G League in 2020. P-J file photo by Scott Kindberg
Jaysean Paige had himself quite a night in Game 3 of the Puerto Rican Basketball League first-round playoff series.
A point guard for Guaynabo, the former Jamestown High School and West Virginia University star poured in 34 points, collected six assists, grabbed two rebounds and had a pair of steals to lead the Mets to a 111-96 victory over the Arecibo Captains on Saturday.
Guaynabo, which now leads the series 3-0 can close it out tonight with a win.
“We just have to control our game and go from there,” Paige said in a postgame interview on the Mets’ Facebook page. “We’re playing the right way, so it’s all working out.”
Guaynabo posted a 96-82 win in Game 1 last Monday and recorded a 93-77 victory in Game 2 last Thursday. In Game 1, Paige scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and collected an assist and, in Game 2, he finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist.
“We’re just playing together, and it always helps when the ball goes in,” he said. “We’re using each other and playing as a team.”
As for his thoughts on tonight’s Game 4, Paige said: “We have to stay consistent, do what we’ve been doing. Don’t get too high or too low. We still have nine more games to get to the goal.”
The Mets closed out the regular season with a 97-91 win over the Carolina Giants, securing a second-place finish in the B Division, setting up a first-round playoff matchup with Arecibo.
Among Paige’s teammates are former first-round NBA pick DeMarcus Cousins, who finished the regular season averaging 20.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, helping the Mets win 20 of their last 27 regular-season games. Their 21 wins was tied for third-most in the league. Paige, meanwhile, is averaging 16.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
Since leading Jamestown to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship game as a junior in 2011, Jaysean’s hoops odyssey has taken him to Perry County (Kentucky) Central High School; the College of Southern Idaho; Moberly Area (Missouri) Community College; West Virginia University; and professional stops in the German Pro A League, the British Basketball League; the NBA G League; Puerto Rico; and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
“I think that’s the beauty part of it, finding my own way and it not being so easy sometimes,” Paige told The Post-Journal last December. “It makes it all worth it.
“When you’re playing, you don’t think about all that stuff, especially at that age. You’re just trying to have fun. I always thought I’d continue playing, but I never thought I’d do some of the stuff I’ve done.”
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