The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER losing their first game by one point to the Temple Christian Suns’ A team, the St Thomas More Sparks bounced back and took their frustration out on the Carlton E Francis Rockets’ B team.

The Sparks, coming into day two of the Temple Christian School’s 4th Annual Basketball Tournament, highlighted day two of the week-long tournament at the Temple Christian Academy Gymnasium on Tuesday by blowing out the Rockets 29-0 to make up for their 10-9 defeat at the hands of the Suns earlier in the day.

“We really didn’t come here to play Temple Christian, so that kind of threw us off,” said St Thomas More’s coach Andrew Hepburn. “We only came here to play Carlton E Francis, so we were not as prepared as we should have been for Temple Christian.

“I still feel that when we meet them in the final, if we do, we will beat them. We didn’t play St Thomas More style of basketball and that was why we got beat. But we came back and showed what we are capable of doing against Carlton E Francis. That is how we like to play the game with an up and fast tempo.”

In other games played, Temple Christian B routed Kingsway Academy 14-3, Carlton A Francis A knocked off Kingsway Academy 11-3 and on the girls’ side, Carlton E Francis whitewashed Freedom Warriors 6-0 and Carlton E Francis held off Temple Christian 8-3.

Suns 10, Sparks 9

Nathan Moss scored six and both Trey Fowler and Teray Wilkie had two apiece as Temple Christian A remained undefeated. Lucendre Paul also had six in the loss and Jaden Strachan chipped in with three.

Suns B 14, Saints 3

Taleo Bethel and Joshua Ferguson combined for nine, scoring five and four respectively to lead Temple Christian B to their first victory. Micky Stuart had two and Olinder Daxon one in a losing effort.

Rockets 6, Warriors 0

Kevonique Davis single handedly beat Freedom Academy, scoring five points and Taheia Ferin added the extra point as Carlton E Francis stayed unbeaten. Freedom Academy, suffering their second loss, finished with all five players on the court as coach Tabitha Major made sure that they stayed out of foul trouble.

Sparks 29, Rockets 0

Lucendre Paul went on an offensive tear, scoring a game high 12 points, the most so far in the tournament this year, to lead St Thomas More. Jaden Strachan contributed seven and both Cody Dean and Andre Arthur had four. Carlton E Francis had difficulty getting the ball over the half court as they got smothered in the zone defence.

Rockets 11, Saints 3

Justin Hunter, Raymond Rolle, Alvando Bain and Sheldon Johnson all scored two points to control the offensive attack for Carlton E Francis as they took advantage of the smaller Kingsway Academy, who was hard pressed to get the ball in the basket.

Micky Stuart had three in the loss.

Rockets 8, Suns 3

Branika Alexus and Kevonique Davis had four and three points respectively in leading the way for Carlton E Francis. Lauren Rolle scored two and Seana McCartney had one in the loss.

Another series of games in the round robin is scheduled to be played today, starting at 3:30pm. The final round is set for Thursday at the same time. Then on Friday, the tournament will wrap up, starting with the sudden death playoffs and followed by the championship games in both divisions.