The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Asia Darville hit just one free throw but that was enough to lift the St John’s Giants past the Kingsway Academy Saints on Tuesday night to earn a berth into the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ senior girls best-of-three basketball championship series.

In the third of four games played in the sudden death playoffs at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, Darville’s last of two free throws with 13.8 seconds left on the clock secured a 28-27 victory for the Giants over the Saints.

Their victory came after St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine got both their junior girls and boys into the final. The Big Red Machine junior girls held off the Queen’s College Comets 34-28 and their junior boys rolled past St John’s 65-19.

Giants 28, Saints 27

St John’s, who had opened an 8-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and held on for a 14-9 margin at the half, watched as Kingsway Academy rallied back to go ahead 21-20 at the end of the third as the Saints played a box and one on Giants’ top scorer Savannah Symonette.

But just before Darville came up with her heroine shot, Cherish Wilson canned a pair of free throws with about a minute to play to pull St John’s into a 27-27 tie.

While Darville scored just one point, Symonette managed to spark St John’as attack with a game high 13 points. Wilson finished with eight.

Ashley Webb scored 12 and both K’Shanique Adderley and Rochea Morley added five in the loss. “It was a close game, but we came through in the end,” said Giants’ coach Leonardo Forbes. “We played them earlier in the regular season, but we didn’t expect it to be this close.”

St Johns will now have to prepare to play against the defending champions from St Augustine’s College. “It’s going to be a hard fight. They have a very good team,” Forbes said. “They have us in size, but if we don’t give up, we have a chance to win.”

Big Red Machine 65,

Giants 19

Making a statement, coach John Todd substituted his players five at a time and the bench didn’t miss a beat as they came in for the starters, who got SAC rolling with a quick 10-0 lead that they extended to 21-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The junior boys game was over from there as the Big Red Machine was clicking on all cylinders as the starters extended their margin to 27-4 midway in the period as the bench came back in and posted a 38-10 advantage at the half.

By the end of the third, SAC had extended their lead to 54-12 and throughout the fourth, Todd again utilised his entire team as they coasted to the lopsided win.

Johnathan McFall pumped in a game high 18 points, Deangelo Mackey had 13 and Rohan Kerr assisted with 14.

For St John’s, Roheem Nixon came up with six and Rashad Greene had four. “When we played them in the regular season, their coach sent me a message saying he has my number. I know he have the wrong number now,” Todd said.

“Last year after we got knocked out of the playoffs, I was supposed to leave SAC, but I just decided to come back to carry this team to the final.”

SAC will face Queen’s College in the final and Todd said he will have his team ready to play.

“They beat us by three in the regular season, but we will be ready for them this time around,” he said. “I want them to win the championship, so I can finally leave on top.”

Big Red Machine 34,

Comets 28

After falling behind 6-2 at the end of the first quarter, SAC turned things around and went ahead 15-12 at the half and never looked back. The Big Red Machine stayed ahead 24-21 at the end of the third and cruised through the fourth. “The girls started off sluggish, but in the end they really stepped it up and that was when the SAC pride stepped in,” said SAC’s coach

Anastacia Moultrie. The Big Red Machine will face Kingsway in the final that also starts 4pm Thursday.

“That’s going to be a great game,” Moultrie said. “My girls are determined to get it and if we play with that same SAC pride, we can do it again.”

• In the late game, Queen’s College knocked off St Augustine’s 68-63 in overtime to advance to the senior boys championship where they will face St John’s. Their match-up will be the final one on day one of the championship series.

Game two is slated to be played on Monday and, if necessary, the third and deciding game will be played on Tuesday.