The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE 28-team field is set, the pools have been decided and the most anticipated basketball tournament in the country is just days away from tipoff.

The 33rd Hugh Campbell Basketball Tournament, which runs from February 22 to 29, will present a number of intriguing match ups in the round-robin pool.

Tournament play begins on Monday at 4pm while the opening ceremony will take place on Tuesday at 10am, both at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

The pools and seeding have been a point of contention in recent years for both local teams and those from the Family Islands.

This year’s field includes 16 schools from New Providence - seven from the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA), six from the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) and four from the Bahamas Scholastic Association (BSA). Eight teams from Grand Bahama will compete along with two teams from other Family Islands and one team from the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The top seed in pool A will be the GSSSA champions, the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins, a week after winning the first title in the school’s history. The Marlins look to continue that momentum in the national event but will be challenged in the pool by perennial contenders the Tabernacle Baptist Falcons.

The Falcons have won a record six Hugh Campbell titles and finished among the top four teams in Grand Bahama this year. Other teams in pool A

are the BAISS runners up the Queen’s College Comets, Mary Star of the Sea from Grand Bahama (formerly Catholic High), GSSSA semi-finalists Anatol Rodgers, the Westminster Diplomats and the St Anne’s Blue Waves.

Pool B will be headed by the St George’s Jaguars, who advanced to their league finals in Grand Bahama. The defending champions, CC Sweeting Cobras, who ended their season in disappointing fashion as GSSSA semi-finalists, will also contend. The Eight Mile Rock Bluejays, who finished as the Hugh Campbell runners-up in 2013 and 2014 will also be in the pool along with Kingsway, Teleos, Bishop Michael Eldon and Abaco Central.

Pool C will feature one of the most dominant teams in the country all year, the Sunland Baptist Stingers. The title holders from Grand Bahama in 2015 are back in the championship series this year and have played in a series of international tournaments in pre-season. To advance from the pool they will have to get by fellow Grand Bahama team St Paul’s Methodist, RM Bailey, CR Walker, Mt Carmel and Akhepran.

The final pool will arguably be the most competitive and will feature BAISS champions, the Jordan Prince William Falcons, the GSSSA runners up and five-times Hugh Campbell champions CI Gibson Rattlers and Grand Bahama semi-finalists the Jack Hayward Wildcats.

Central Eleuthera High, Clement Howell from Turks and Caicos, Hope Academy and Temple Christian complete the pool.

While Grand Bahama teams opted not to compete at last year’s event ,it did not diminish the level of competition between the 28 schools participating in the week-long competition.

The CC Sweeting Cobras eventually claimed the title, their fourth in school history, with a 67-61 win over the CI Gibson Rattlers.

The Falcons, coached by Norris Bain, still hold the record of having won the title six times (1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2010). The Rattlers and coach Johnson are close behind with five (2002, 2004-2006 and 2014), while Catholic High also have also won it five times, three times under Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee (1983, 1989 and 1991) and twice under Charlie ‘Softly’ Robins (1999 and 2003).

The initial tournament, which was only played between the New Providence schools, in 1982 was won by the LW Young Golden Eagles, coached then by Walter Rand with Bernard Storr as the MVP. The next year, the Grand Bahama teams joined and McPhee and the Crusaders with Ben Russell as the MVP won their first title in 1983.

No Family Island or BAISS schools has ever won the tournament, which was cancelled once in 1986 because of a dispute with the teachers that eventually led to the formation of the GSSSA and the BAISS. Last year was the first year that none of the schools from Grand Bahama participated.

HOW THEY LINE UP

Pool A

Doris Johnson

Tabernacle

Queen’s College

Mary Star of the Sea

Anatol Rodgers

Westminster College

St Anne’s

Pool B

St George’s High

CC Sweeting

Eight Mile Rock High

Kingsway Academy

Bishop Michael Elden

Ábaco Central High

Teleos Christian School

Pool C

Sunland Baptist

RM Bailey

CR Walker

St Paul’s Methodist

Mt Carmel

CV Bethel

Akhepran International Academy

Pool D

Sir Jack Hayward High

CI Gibson

Hope Academy

Jordan Prince William  

Temple Christian

Central Eleuthera

Clement Howell