The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT IS not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in local sports, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

We’re smack into the Thanksgiving season and although we don’t go all out and celebrate like our neighbours to the north – United States of America – do, we still should be grateful to God for giving us so much to be thankful for.

First of all, we’re thankful for the tremendous athletes that we have been blessed with in this little country called the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the fact that we have the forum right here at home to display their talent on the international stage.

We’ve seen DeAndre Ayton, the top ranked high school player in the USA, come home to lead his Hillcrest Academy Bruins to a pair of victories in the Sand Between Your Toes Showcase at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

For those who didn’t get a chance to watch any of the games, you missed a treat – all packaged in a 7-feet, 235-pound frame. In the pair of games, Ayton averaged 27.5 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 block shots.

“It felt great being back. As soon as I walked in the gym all eyes were on me. I felt back home,” Ayton said. “I just really wanted to put on a show the minute I stepped on the floor.”

All eyes were on Ayton and he certainly didn’t disappoint any fans.

Ayton, 18, has already signed to play for Arizona next year and based on his performance, he’s projected to go all the way, following in the footsteps of Chavanno ‘Buddy’ Hield, who is now playing with the New Orleans Pelicans in the National Basketball Association.

While he was holding court at the gymnasium, his name was called at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island where he was recognised as the Junior Male Athlete of the Year at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s 2016 National Sports Awards banquet.

Hield, by the way, was named the overall senior Male Athlete of the Year for the exceptional conclusion of his four-year sting with the Oklahoma Sooners before he was drafted as the No.6 pick in the NBA draft by the Pelicans.

Only time will tell who will follow in Hield’s footsteps.

Right now, Lourawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn could be next on the list. He will complete his tenure with the Michigan State Spartans next year. But like Ayton, he also got a chance to come home and put on a show for the Bahamian public in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

“I just want to help this team the best way I can, wherever coach needs me to be, whatever he needs me to do that’s what I’ll do,” Nairn said of his homecoming. “If I have to score, rebound, pass, play defence, whatever it is I’m just happy I can contribute and help my team win.”

Unfortunately, Nairn’s appearance here wasn’t as successful as Ayton as they split their first two games, winning their opener 73-62 over the St John’s Red Storm before losing to the Baylor Bears 73-58 in their second encounter.

Since we don’t have any Black Friday shopping to do here, there’s still an opportunity left today at 1pm to go over to Paradise Island to watch Nairn and the Spartans play for third place.

If that’s not enough to be thankful for, we can be proud of the future of tennis in the country.

At the National Tennis Centre, we had some of our bright young stars face off against some touring junior players at the Goombay Splash Tennis Tournament. While none were successful in getting to the final, two players who performed exceptionally well in their matches were Sydney Clarke and Jacobi Bain.

Iesha Shepherd, in her final year as a junior at the age of 17 and fresh off her appearance in a number of tournaments overseas, led the way by advancing to the second round. But she admitted that she didn’t play as well as she is capable of doing and got eliminated earlier than she anticipated.

Clarke, a 15-year-old 10th grader at the CR Walker Secondary High, went further than all of the players as her run to the final was cut short in a hard fought quarter-final match against the top seed Laura Lissette Quezada Martinez.

It wasn’t a good Thanksgiving Day for Clarke as she also got eliminated in doubles with partner Zulay Castaneda from Panama. Clarke has nothing to hold her head down for. She performed exceptionally well this week.

Now it’s all up to 15-year-old Bain to keep the Bahamas flag flying in the tournament that wraps up on Saturday. Bain, back home from his tour around the world, took his opponent to the limit in his first round match before he gracefully bowed out. But he’s teamed up with Canadian Ilya Tiraspolsky and they’re making their presence felt in doubles.

In all thanks, we can give thanks because for the second consecutive year the Bahamas Government Departmental Softball Association have returned home as champions of the WBSC Co-Ed Slow Pitch Cup Tournament.

Sherman Ferguson, regarded as one of the most feared batters in the country, emerged as the most valuable player. He hit the cover off the ball with three home runs, including a pair of grand slam home runs.

Congrats to the team.

THE WEEK AHEAD

On Saturday, local sailors will get to show off their boats to the public in a float parade that will start at Golden Gates Outreach Ministries at 10am as they prepare for the much anticipated Best of the Best Sailing Extravaganza in Montagu Bay next week.

The event will mark the first time that the local sloop sailing boats will get to mix and mingle with the visiting Olympic-style boats that will compete in the final of the Star Sailors League.

From Tuesday, November 28 to Sunday, December 4, 50 of the world’s top sailors, representing 17 different countries, will battle it out over five days of racing including a thrilling last day knock-out format. The winner will take away the lion-share of the $200,000 prize pot. 

On Sunday, December 4, all the focus will be on the Best of the Best Regatta. Competition will be held in the Class A, B and C categories. A team of elite sailors from the SSL Finals will join in the action, giving the local sailors the chance to win a regatta for bragging rights.

It’s going to be another jammed pack week as the Thanksgiving season comes to a close and we begin preparation for the festive yuletide season. In all things, let’s give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving.