The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Redemption Christian Academy Lions, featuring a Bahamian coach and five local players, are in town and they are hoping to make their presence felt at the Providence Holiday Basketball Classic for senior boys’ basketball teams at the CI Gibson Gymnasium.

The Lions, coached by Tristan Wilchcombe, split their first two games, holding off the Queen’s College Comets 33-31 before falling victim to Noble Preparatory Academy 56-51 in their double header on Monday. They were scheduled to play the Sir Jack Hayward Wildcats in their opening game on Sunday, but the Wildcats didn’t make the trek from Grand Bahama.

Wilchcombe, a former player for the St John’s Giants in 2003, said their Bahamian laden team that hails out of their traditional New England campus in Northfield, Massachusetts, where they welcome international students from around the world from countries which include: Switzerland, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Korea, France, Germany, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Canada, Czech Republic, Ghana, Macedonia, Liberia, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, is excited about being in the tournament here.

“They don’t really go after the high profile players. We go after the ones that have been overshadowed, so for the Bahamian players to come back here and showcase their skills in front of their families and friends is a good experience for us. We have players like Ziv Basden, Makarious Russell, Deanta Tinker and Dhylan Culmer. They are doing well very, always in the gym. Makarious, at just 14, is playing against some of the top players in our region and he’s holding his own.”

Although he’s in town to display his Lions’ squad, Wilchcombe said he’s also looking at recruiting some more Bahamians to play for RCA next year. Wilchcombe said he has been impressed with what he has seen so far, but his Lions are just looking to make their presence felt in the tournament that wraps up tonight.

A total of 20 teams are taking part in the tournament, including Grand Bahama, San Salvador and Abaco. The CI Gibson Rattlers are the defending champions, but the Lions, Noble Academy, the CC Sweeting Cobras, St George’s Jaguars from Grand Bahama and Dame Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins are just a few of the teams looking to dethrone them.

In one of the marquee games yesterday, the Mystic Marlins out-ran the Jaguars for a 53-49 victory. Despite the loss, St George’s coach Darrel Sears promised that they will make the necessary adjustments and be ready to face Doris Johnson in their rematch in pool play today.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Sears after they lost their first game of the tournament following a 42-35 win over the San Salvador Caciques. “We’re not the same team that came together in September. I think we need to lose sometimes to win. It’s up to us as coaches to get our team geared up to play and you will see a totally different team when we play them again.”

Results of games played so far are as follows:

Anatol Rodgers def. St John’s 58-47; CC Sweeting def. Teleos 58-36; Doris Johnson def. San Salvador 52-44; Queen’s College def. Noble Preparatory Academy 37-35; Doris Johnson def. South Andros High 71-22; Anatol Rodgers def. Kingsway Academy 57-43; Galilee Academy def. San Salvador 37-33; Redemption Christian Academy def. Queen’s College 33-31; CI Gibson def. Anatol Rodgers 58-45; St George’s def. San Salvador 42-35; CC Sweeting def. Jordan Prince Williams 68-52; Galilee Academy def. South Andros High 68-46; Noble Preparatory Academy def. Redemption Christian Academy 56-51; Noble Preparatory Academy def. Teleos Academy 44-41; CI Gibson def. St John’s 63-29; Doris Johnson def. St George’s 53-49; Anatol Rodgers def. Temple Christian Academy 41-34; Central Eleuthera def. Queen’s College 44-43 in overtime and Doris Johnson def. Galilee Academy 56-52 in overtime.

The pool play is slated to begin 9am today and conclude with the championship game at 7:30pm.