The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Coach Mark Hanna and his Net Breakers basketball club went to Grand Bahama over the weekend and captured both the under-13 and under-15 titles in the 13th annual 3 Oz Athletics Christmas Basketball Tournament.

The three-day event was played at the St George’s Gymnasium and, according to Quentin ‘Three-Ounce’ Hall, it turned out to be quite a showpiece.

“It was very competitive. I’ve been doing this for 13 years and every year, you can adjust and do something different,” Hall said. “But this one went very smoothly. 

The coaches, especially Quincy Gray and Marco Cooper from Grand Bahama, after working with the young kids, “I have to commend them. They have been working with me from day one when I started this.” 

Hall, a former national team player and junior national boys basketball coach, said Hanna came to Grand Bahama and brought a new dimension to the tournament.

“When you have a club, you can work with these guys year round. That is something that is really needed. You could see how well they are together,” Hall reflected. 

“It takes a lot of time to show these guys how to play defense and run their offene. It ain’t easy. But he’s not just teaching it in his junior high school team, but he’s doing it with his club.”

Hanna, whose club stems from his DW Davis Royals Junior High School team, said he was extremely pleased as he watched his Net Breakers under-13 team, led by 6-feet, three-inches 13-year-old most valuable player Justin LaFleur, who wears size 14 shoes, nip the Falcons 22-21.

His under-15 team pulled off a 44-24 decision over the Panthers with Windesky Paul being named the MVP.

“The teams performed very well. We had to make some adjustments because in the pool play, our opponents saw our defense and they made some adjustments in the championship games,” Hanna said.

“We adjusted, made some moves on the defensive end and we came out with the victories.”

In the under-13 division, Hanna said he had to talk a little more to keep them motivated.

“They played very well. As a defensive coach, I was very impressed with the way they played,” he insisted. “We trapped very well, so I was very pleased with that.”

As for the under-15 team, Hanna said it was no contest.

“I really wanted to play against Tabernacle Baptist, they got knocked out,” he said. “In the championship, the team played extremely well. They couldn’t stop us. We took care of the game inside.”

With some time for the players to enjoy Christas with their family, Hanna said he will be back at it as they participate in the Providence Basketball Classic, hosted by Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, at the CI Gibson Gymnasium from December 27-30.

Following the tournament, Hanna said he will prepare his DW Davis Royals for the completion of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s season before they head to Long Island in February and during the Easter break, they head to Bimini and Orlando, Florida for t2wo more tournaments.

“My goal is to try and play at least 80-100 games per year, so whenever we can get in a tournament, we go,” Hanna said. “The More competition we get, the better they c=become. You can’t learn from just practicing.”

During the closing ceremonies, Hall also presented the Sportsmanship awards to Keshawn Major and Erwin Carey respectively in the under-13 and under-15 divisions.

Next year, Hall said it’s his intention to get a girls’ component added to the tournament, if he can get some teams committed to participating. He also wants to put on a three-on-three tournament for the age group divisions. 

Here’s a look at the results from the other games played in the tournament: 

Friday’s  Day 2 scores

Net Breakers def.  Stinger 42-23.  Under-15 as Javardo Wright scored 15 points.

Stars over Marlins 20-0 in under-13

Net Breakers def. Stars 32-16 under-13 with Milton Newbold leading the way with eight points.

Falcons def. Stingers 35-33 under-15 behind Danahj Mortimer ‘s13 points. 

Net Breakers def. Panthers 40-23 under-15, thanks to the 13 points from Javardo Wright.

In games played on Thursday: Net Breaker def. Falcons 19-15 under-15; Stingers def. Stars 27-18 under-13; Panthers def. Falcons 25-24 under-15; Net Breakers def. Stingers 20-17 under-13 and Stars def. Blue Jays 20-0 under-13.