The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE St John’s College junior and senior girls hauled away two more championships on Friday to secure their second and third title of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) basketball season.

The Giants made it to yet another senior girls’ championship but this time they took home bragging rights after defeating the Kingsway Academy Saints 36-34.

The first game of the double header saw the Giants narrowly knock off the St Augustine’s College junior girls 15-12 at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

Junior Girls

The low-scoring affair between the Big Red Machine and Giants showed glimpses of the previous game but with a different result.

Similar to game two of the series, the Giants came out on a mission in the first half while SAC struggled on offence.

The newly-crowned champions opened the game on a 6-0 run and completed the opening period up 6-1.

The Giants kept rolling in the following quarter where Mariana Cruzman nailed back-to-back jumpers, making the score 11-5 with 1:58 on the clock.

The team went into the break up 12-3.

Malcolm Rahming, head coach of the junior girls, had this message for his team headed into the next half after game two’s meltdown.

“I told them we just got to be honest with ourselves, look ourselves in the mirror and fix our mistakes in what we could control.

“It is not over, it is never over until it is over so we just came out here tonight and fought,” coach Rahming said.

The Big Red Machine cut down the 9-point deficit with a 7-2 run and got as close as 14-12 on the scoreboard.

It seemed as if SAC would pull off yet another comeback victory but their offence was non-existent in the fourth quarter where they scored zero points.

Meanwhile, the lone point scored for the Giants in the period was earned at the charity stripe by Dania Rolle to seal the championship win.

Rolle finished with a game-high nine points and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Coach Rahming gave credit to the Big Red Machine for a hard-fought series. “I want to give them credit, the truth is they have been beating us since last year. I didn’t get my first win off them until the champi- onships so kudos to them, they did a good job. I know they trained and played hard so I want to give them their due,” he said.

Senior Girls

With the crowd at the KGLI gymnasium still soaking in the junior girls’

title victory, the Giants’ senior girls capitalised on their moment as well.

SJC led 26-21 at the half- time break.

However, the Saints were able to regain their footing and climb within one (28- 27) with 2:27 remaining in the third. The Saints then managed to get the edge 31-30 following a big layup to start the final quarter of the championship round.

After this juncture, the game was a back and forth affair between the senior girls. With the Giants up 34-33 and 1:00 on the clock, Rianna Greene got the ball from an inbounds play but came up short on the go ahead layup. However, the Giants corralled the offensive rebound and Greene received the ball in the corner and this time she drove into the paint to convert on a tough fall away shot. Kingsway’s Andica Curtis was fouled down the stretch but split her free throws leaving room for the Giants to run away with their third BAISS basketball title of 2024.

The MVP honours went to Greene who finished with nine points. Her teammate Stevanah Turnquest dropped a game-high 18 points.

Oswaldo Taylor, head coach of the senior girls, was elated to see his school take home three titles for the 2024 BAISS basketball season.

“It feels awesome, we should have had four teams instead of three but we are only fortunate to have three. The three of the teams won and it feels great. Right now I cannot explain it in words but I just thank God that he brought us through this path and gave us the energy and will- power to push on and win this year,” Taylor said.

Despite the contest being close in the final period, he said he told the girls to just protect the ball.

“All we needed to do was protect the ball. We had the lead, at one point they took the lead back with under two minutes on the clock then we came back and went up three on them. All I wanted them to do was not get careless with the ball and only go to the rim if they had wide open shots,” he said.

The Giants’ coach said both teams did a great job and congratulated the Saints for pushing them to a third game. Celebrations are expected to be grand for the school.

The BAISS basketball championships are now in the books with the Giants taking the junior boys and girls and senior girls titles.

The Charles W Saunders Cougars repeated as champions in the senior boys’ division.

Next up for the BAISS will be the track and field meet set for March 6-8.