The Tribune

By RENALDO

DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamian pipeline continues to pay dividends for the Holland College basketball programmes as they have built a dynasty in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association.

Both the men’s and women’s teams, with Bahamian players playing pivotal roles, captured league titles last weekend for the Prince Edward Island-based institution.

The women’s team captured their second consecutive title while the men won their fourth in a row. In the women’s feature, the Hurricanes delivered a dominant performance in a 82-54 win over the Crandall Chargers.

Marvia Dean led the Hurricanes with 17 points and a game high 15 rebounds while Ashley Moss stuffed the stat sheet to win “Player of the Game” honours. Moss finished with seven points, 12 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and four steals.

Chrishanda Rahming, the third Bahamian on the roster, finished with two points in six minutes of play.

“Our kids came out to play and I was really proud of them today. They had a dominant game,” Hurricanes head coach Mike Connolly told the Charlottetown Guardian. “We really do feel it’s our time. We’ve got the team to be able to get it done and we’re really looking to take the next step.”

Dean averaged a double double, was the third leading scorer at 12.6 points per game and leading rebounder at 11.5 boards per game.

Moss averaged 7.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and a league leading 4.3 blocked shots per game. After missing the first six games of the season, she scored a season high 12 points in just her third appearance.

Rahming has been a key reserve, averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

The Hurricanes will enter the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship as the sixth seed overall.

The tournament takes place at St Clair College in Ontario, March 16-19. It marks the Hurricanes’ third consecutive tournament appearance after they tied for fifth in 2014 and finished third last year.

For the men’s team, the charge toward a fourth consecutive title was led by Bahamians Trevone Grant and Roosevelt Whylly. They avenged their only loss of the pass two seasons to defeat the Mount St Vincent Mystics, 94-68 in the championship game.

Grant finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Whylly added nine points and eight rebounds.

“Trevone Grant was out of his mind. He played excellent,” Hurricanes head coach Jeff Whitty told the Guardian. “He played like the MVP of the league should.”

The Hurricanes dominated the ACAA all season long, with their lone hiccup, the January 30 loss at the hands of MSVU.

“We were really excited to get to play them again,” Whitty said. “We weren’t happy with the way we played last time we seen them. We wanted to go out and sort of showcase the way we think we’re capable of playing.”

Whylly has been the team’s leading scorer at 19.8 points per game and leading rebounder at 8.9 per game.

Grant is the team’s second leading scorer at 17 points per game, grabbing 7.9 rebounds, handing out three assists and leads the team in steals at 2.9 per game.

The ACAA is the governing body for collegiate sports in Atlantic Canada.

With the conference title, the Hurricanes will now look to win its first national championship when they travel to Fort McMurray to compete in the CCAA National Championship, March 16-19. The Hurricanes finished second in 2013 and fifth the last two years. They will enter this year’s tournament as the second overall seed.

The CCAA is the national governing body for organised sports at colleges in Canada since 1974 and hosts 10 annual national championships.