The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Our championship matchup of the Senior Boys’ division in the National High School Basketball Championships are down to our final teams of the tournament.

The Tabernacle Baptist Falcons advanced to their third consecutive finals appearance and will face the St George’s Jaguars in a rematch of this year’s Grand Bahama Secondary School Athletic Association championship series.

Game time is set for 8pm at the St George’s Gymnasium.

The teams also met in the 2017 national title game when the Giants emerged with the win.

Final Four recap

Tabernacle Baptist Falcons - 67

Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins - 55

The Falcons defeated the Mystic Marlins for the second time in as many nights and eliminated the tournament favourite in surprisingly dominant fashion.

Joshua Dames’ double double led the Falcons with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ethan Munroe scored 17 points with 4-9 shooting from three-point range while Travjaun Alleyne added eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Matthew Saunders scored 13 to lead Doris Johnson while Tyeko Lowe added 12 points and seven rebounds and Richard Lowe added a double double off the bench with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Alleyne got the start and made an immediate impact on the offensive glass. He gave the Falcons an early 4-1 lead with a tip-in and had two blocks on a single possession. The Falcons took an 8-5 lead on a Munroe pull up jumper and Dames’ late free throw would give the Falcons a 9-7 lead at the end of one.

Lowe scored the opening basket of the second to tie the game at nine, but Munroe followed with a deep three off of a crossover to take a 12-9 lead.

Tied at 13, Romad Dean completed a three-point play and started a 10-2 run for the Falcons. Jarret Hall made a three to give the Falcons a 23-15 lead.

Hall would answer another Lowe score with a floater and dished an assist to Dames who made a three from the wing for a 28-19 lead.

Tyeko Lowe’s runner finally broke the Mystic Marlins’ drought with a floater.

Dames made another pair of free throws but Matthew Saunders made a buzzer beating three to come within six at the half, 30-24.

The Falcons opened the third with a 5-0 run before the Mystic Marlins would get their first points of the quarter.

Munroe’s second three of the quarter gave the Falcons a 38-28 lead and Doris Johnson worked their way back into the game with scores from Saunders, Shepherd and Munroe responded with another three to push the lead back to nine. They took a 45-36 lead into the fourth.

The Falcons’ lead grew by as much as 17 in the fourth quarter as they pulled away late.

Tabernacle’s path to the championship included wins over Jordan Prince William, CC Sweeting and the pair of Doris Johnson.

St George’s Jaguars - 76

Gateway Academy Eagles - 57

The Jaguars avenged an opening round loss to the Eagles to advance to their second championship appearance in three years.

Samuel Pinder led the Jaguars with 17 points, Shavaul Butters added 16 points and 12 rebounds, Christopher Johnson scored 14 and Paul Greene scored six with seven rebounds.

Bradley Lightbourne led Gateway with 29 points and nine rebounds while Denzel Jones added nine.

The Jaguars opened the game on a 20-4 run and dominated the Eagles in the wire to wire win. Lightbourne’s three pointer halted the Jaguars run momentarily, but they led 24-11 at the end of the first quarter.

The Jaguars had an even better scoring second quarter with 25 points in the period. Lightbourne’s three pointer cut the deficit briefly to 10 when he made the score 33-23, but the Jaguars went on a 14-2 run to close the half. Greene but St. George’s up by 20 when he converted a traditional three point play for a 45-25 lead with 1:43 left to play. They took a 49-25 lead into the half.

The lead ballooned to 30 early in the third when Pinder made a pair at the line for a 65-35 lead. The Eagles never came within 28 in the quarter and the Jaguars took a 66-35 lead into the fourth.

St. George’s lost their opening game of the tournament to Gateway, 54-47. They rebounded to score wins over Temple Christian, Anatol Rodgers, CI Gibson and Sunland before the win in the rematch.

The Eagles were the surprise story of the tournament headed into the final game as one of only two undefeated teams to that point. They began the tournament with a win over St. John’s followed by the aforementioned win over St. George’s. They followed with wins over CI Gibson and Sunland.

SENIOR GIRLS

THE No.1 ranked Senior Girls team in the country remained virtually untested thus far and will meet a familiar foe to decide the 2019 National title.

Tonight’s national championship game will feature The St. John’s College Giants against the St. Augustine’s College Big Red Machine in a rematch of the BAISS Championship series that went the distance in three games.

Gametime is set for 6pm at the St. George’s Gymnasium.

Final Four recap

St John’s College Giants - 66

St George’s Jaguars - 47

The Giants blew away the Jaguars for the second time in as many nights and easily advanced to their first national title game.

Sidneya Hilarie scored a game high 17 points to lead three Giants in double figures. Michelle Butler had a double double with 16 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks while Christina Richardson added 15.

Khyla Shakespeare led the Jaguars with 12 points, Kendi Outten had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals while Wilgiana Toussaint and Anta’jah Rahming each scored 11.

The Jaguars kept it close in the first and a late Anta’Jah Rahming layup made the score 12-11 headed into the second period. The Giants would go on to outscore the Jaguars 45-23 over the course of the second and third quarters to take the lead for good.

Leading 18-17 at the 4:46 mark in the second quarter, Christina Richardson’s layup was the beginning of a 10-0 run that concluded with a Ty’Anna Gordon jumper and a 28-17 advantage. They took a 32-22 lead into the half. The Giants’ lead reached 20 for the first time with Butler’s jumper to make the score 52-31 with just under two minutes left to play in the quarter. The Giants took a 57-36 lead into the fourth and the lead was never threatened in the fourth.

St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine - 42

CI Gibson Rattlers - 26

The Big Red Machine avenged a one point loss to the Rattlers on day three and won when it mattered most to advance to the championship.

SAC’s stifling defensive effort limited the Rattlers to just single digit scores in each quarter en route to the lopsided win.

Antonicia Moultrie led the Big Red Machine with 19 points and 19 rebounds while Karolyn Baptiste scored nine.

Glennia Sands led CI Gibson with 11 points.