The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The CI Gibson Rattlers had to hold off a man-shortened CC Sweeting Cobras to retain their senior boys’ title in the 24th edition of the Providence Basketball Tournament yesterday at the CI Gibson Gymnasium.

And in a showdown between two Abaco teams in the junior boys’ division, the Agape Christian Academy Eagles repeated as champions as well, pulling off a 55-43 win over the SC Bootle Dolphins.

The Rattlers brought the curtain down on the four-day tournament that started on Friday with a 60-52 win over the Cobras just after the Eagles soared past the Dolphins 55-43 on the final day of competition. 

Tournament organiser Kevin “KJ” Johnson  said they had another tremendous performance from the 10 junior boys and 19 senior boys teams who participated.

“I think 95 per cent of the games were competitive. The other five per cent, there were some weaker teams playing,” Johnson said. “But, at the end of the day, we wanted to make sure all of the teams got better during the Christmas break and go back into their respective leagues in January.”

Rattlers 60, Cobras 52

Finishing with just five players, CC Sweeting gave it a gallant effort, but they didn’t have enough stamina to stop all of the attacks CI Gibson threw at them. 

“It’s always an intense battle when we play CC Sweeting,” said Johnson, who coached CI Gibson. 

“They were short-handed tonight, but they have some good players over there and they will always compete. “That’s what it’s all about, preparing and doing the right things. That is what caused us to win this one tonight.” Tashon Butler had a game high 27 points, Mario Rolle had 17, and Zavian Lloyd added six for the Rattlers, who led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 37-26 at the half.

The Cobras, in rallying back to out-score the Rattlers 12-11 in the third and 14-11 in the fourth, was led by Emmanuel Adams led the Cobras with 24, Andrew Bethel had 15, Brenden Darville had six and Tavari Roker had five. 

Darshtyan Baker, foch vof CC Sweeting, said they played as well as they could with what they had left after one of their remaining six players went down with an injury in their semifinal game. 

“A couple of our guys were away and some had to take care of their family commitments, so we had to go with what we had,” Baker said. “I like the intensity and the fight we put up out there tonight. I can’t be more happy with the way they performed.”

Eagles 55, Dolphins 43: Corey Roberts poured in a game high 24 points, Roniko Edgecombe had eight and both Taurus Sainvil and Demetrius Edgecombe added seven as Agape Christian Academy celebrated another victory.

“We came to this tournament for the first time last year and I had a strong feeling that we could defend the title this year,” said Eagles’ coach Stepfon Johnson. “The boys played well. We won every game by about 18 points, so it was a really good showing from them.”

Johnson said his entire team came to town with one mission and that was to win the title, especially for their eight players who will be moving up to the senior division. He said they wanted to go out with a bang and they did it.

Creshanno Baillou led the way for SC Bootle, coached by Lacreasha and Serrano Baillou Sr, with 17. Asher Rolle had 11 and Serrano Baillou Jr ended up with nine.

Senior boys semifinals

Cobras 44, Jaguars 40: With just six players in uniform, CC Sweeting withstood every challenge they got from St George’s to advance to the senior boys championship.

They held a slim 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but they pushed their margin to 24-16 at the half. After an 11-9 run in the third, the Cobras got outscored 15-9 in the fourth as they held on for the win.

Emmanuel Adams scored 16 and Tavari Roker added 14 in the win for the Cobras. Mikhai Nesbitt had a game high 23 and Isaiah Roker chipped in with 10 in the loss for St George’s. 

Rattlers 73, Giants 27: Mario Rolle was a tower of strength on the inside with a game high 19 points, Zarin Lloyd and Condae Smith both had 10 and Melvens Simeon and Darius Hanna both finished with nine as CI Gibson stormed into the senior boys championships.

The Rattlers opened a 23-8 tear in the first quarter and extended it to 48-13 at the half. They used a 16-7 spurt in the third and extended their lead with a 9-7 lead in the fourth to complete the rout. 

Ron Demeritte had eight and Joshua Russell, Ticoyo Bain and Nathan Bullard all had five before they were eliminated. 

Junior boys semifinals

Eagles 59, Royals 43: In the upset of the tournament the way it was done, Agape Christian stunned DW Davis with a balanced scoring attack to book their ticket in the junior boys championship. 

Keagen Hicks exploded for a game high 21 points to set the stage for the thriller. Damarion Evans had 17, Valdez Johnson 14 and Coreh Roberts had 12.

Jovardo Wright had 15 and Cleshawn Newton seven in the loss for the Royals, who were 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, but fell behind 28-25 at the half.

Agape Christian used a 20-3 spurt in the third to pull away, although DW Davis tried to come back on a 13-11 run in the fourth, but it was too late.

Dolphins 43, Big Red Machine 21: Serrano Baillou Jr and Creshanno Baillou both scored 12 points to push SC Bootle to advance to the junior boys final.

Kerron Laing and Christian McKinney both had seven on the loss for St Augustine’s, who fell behind 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and 28-12 at the half.

SC Bootle went on a 9-5 slurt in the tihrd and 6-3 in the fourth to hold on for the win. 

Senior boys divisional playoffs

Jaguars 36, Knights 24: In a match-up of two Grand Bahama senior boys teams, St George’s got the better of the deal as they led from start to finish.

Isaiah Roker and Mikhai Nesbitt scored nine and seven points respectively in the win. Isais Sejourn had eight for Blazer Elite as they were eliminated from the tournament.  

It was the only loss for Blazer Elite in the tournament as they fell behind 7-2 at the end of the first quarter and 22-16 at the half.

Cobras 48, Diplomats 45 in overtime: Brenden Darville canned four of his seven free throws in the extra period to secure the 7-5 spurt for CC Sweeting for the senior boys victory to move onto the semifinals.

The game was tied 40-40 at the end of regulation.

Keshawn Jean-Pierre led their attack with 14 points and Tavari Roker chipped in with 13. Omar Pierre scored a game high 17 and Jahiem Armbrister added 12 in the loss as Westminster were ousted from further play.

Giants 34, Magics 20: Joshua Russell and Leonardo Rolle provided a 1-2 punch with 15 and 13 points to pace St John’s to their comeback senior boys victory to get into the semifinals.

Government High, who blew an 11-3 first quarter lead and was out-scored 9-1 in the second quarter, got seven points apiece from Jeremiah Cadet and Leroy Rolle as they were eliminated.

Rattlers 53, Pacers 27: Kaleb Chandler scored a game high 23 points and Darius Hanna added 16 as CI Gibson ran away from RM Bailey in their senior boys encounter to get to the semifinals.

Janey Tynes scored eight and Glenniah Clarke had seven in the loss for RM Bailey as they were ousted from the tournament.