The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The CI Gibson Rattlers, still riding a perfect season on the local scene although they are coming off two losses overseas, emerged as champions of their own Providence Basketball Tournament.

The Rattlers pulled off a 76-67 victory over the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons in a match-up of two undefeated teams in the respective Government Secondary Schools Sports Association and the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools.

CI Gibson, the GSSSA runners-up, advanced to the final with a 80-47 rout over the CV Bethel Stingrays and Jordan Prince Williams, the BAISS champions, clinched their berth with a 71-54 clobbering of the CC Sweeting Cobras.

Most valuable player Asher Scavalla canned 23 points in the win and Adam Johnson pumped in a game high 27 in the loss.

“I have a very young team once again. I lost two really good players to school in the United States, but the guys who are stepping up are really playing some good basketball,” said Rattlers’ head coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson.

“They really understand what it takes to try to get the job done by winning the game, one game at a time. They are young and they are making their mistakes, but as the games go on, we are only getting better as a team. I see that they are doing that and hopefully at the end of the day, we will be ready to finish strong at the GSSSA Championships, Hugh Campbell and the Nationals.”

As for the level of competition exhibited in the tournament, Johnson said if it was any indication, the road to the Hugh Campbell in February will be an interesting one.

“We played a very good team, very well coached,” Johnson said. “I think Prince Williams have one of the best centres or small forward in Adam (Johnson) in the country. He’s very athletic. We had to come out with a very good game plan and we did that to pull off the win.

“But hats off to Prince Williams. They are a very good team with some very good guards. We executed down the stretch and we did what was necessary for us to win. We just need to mature a little more, understanding what it is the coach is trying to tell them and playing the game the way we should.”

The four teams mentioned above emerged as the pool champions with the Rattlers beating the Westminster Diplomats 73-44, the Falcons flew past the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves 68-66, the Stingrays stunned the Mt Carmel Cavaliers 60-40 and the Cobras roared over the Queen’s College Comets 73-68.

In games played during the pool play, Queen’s College def. Government High 64-49; CI Gibson def. Akhepran 76-11; RM Bailey def. St Anne’s, Queen’s College def. Teleos 63-47; Anatol def. RM Bailey 68-37; Westminster def. Akhepran 53-44; Anatol def. St Anne’s; Prince Williams def. RM Bailey 82-35; CV Bethel def, Temple Christian 58-56; CC Sweeting def, Teleos 84-67; Anatol def. Jordan Prince Williams 74-70; CC Sweeting def. Government High 72-52; CV Bethel def. Mt Carmel 58-53; Jordan Prince Williams def. St Anne’s 73-46; Mt Carmel def. Temple Christian 70-44; CV Bethel def. Akhepran 65-60; CI Gibson def. West Minster 86-43 and Queen’s College def. CC Sweeting 51-50.

As the tournament director, Johnson said he was pleased with the level of competition that he saw on display. But as the season progresses, he said it will be interesting to see how everybody stack up when the teams come together from Grand Bahama.

While Scavalla carted of the championship MVP, the tournament MVP was won by Frantwon Newton from Jordan Prince Williams. Scavalla also clinched the rebounds title and Newton was the best offensive player. Dominic Bridgewater of Anatol Rodgers won both the assists and steals titles. Dominic Burnside of Anatol Rodgers won the blocks title and Adam Johnson added the best defensive player award to Jordan Prince Williams’ collection.

Kevin Johnson was named the Coach of the Tournament.

From the tournament, the following players were selected for the postseason honors:

First Team All-Tournament -Dominic Bridgewater/Anatol Rodgers; Preston Ferguson/Mt Carmel; Asher Scavella/CI Gibson; Terrance Storr/CI Gibson; Deonte Tinker/CI Gibson;Kenneth Johnson/TeleosSirmar Rolle/Queens CollegeAshton Knowles/St. Anne’s; Adam Johnson/Jordan Prince WilliamsandFrantawn Newton/Jordan Prince Williams.

Second Team All-Tournament - Jayson McHardy/Anatol Rodgers; Aaron Jordan/Queen’s College; Eric Cox/CV Bethel; Wilfred Ferguson/Jordan Prince Williams; Kristen Munroe/CC Sweeting; Elliott Greenslade/Queen’s College; Tyrell Butler/CI  Gibson; Dominic Bridgewater/CI Gibson; Saheed Sansusi/Akhepran and Marco Beckford/CC Sweeting.

The teams are now preparing for the second halves of the GSSSA and the BAISS seasons that are expected to resume next week.