The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ most prestigious basketball tournament for senior boys will feature 30 teams sandwiched in a 54-game package from Monday to Saturday, February 17-24, at the AF Adderley Gymnasium with the championship game being staged at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Noble Preparatory Academy will be entered for the first time, joining the Blazer Elite High from the Turks and Caicos Islands and Acklins Central High, who will all be making their debut in the 32nd version of the Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic.

The pools were released Thursday for the double elimination tournament at a press conference in the school’s library.

“We are pleased that this year, instead of one team, we have two teams from the Turks and Caicos Islands,” said AF Adderley’s principal Theophilus Claridge. “Our Family Island teams are becoming more interested. We have two teams from Andros - North Andros High and South Andros, two teams from Abaco - Abaco Central High and Agape Christian Academy and two teams from Eleuthera - Central Eleuthera High and Harbour Island All-Age.

“Also this year, we have a team from Acklins, who is competing for the first time. So we have a total of nine teams coming in from the Family Islands. From Grand Bahama, we have six teams coming in and in New Providence, we have a total of 15 teams. So this year, we have a total of 30 teams, up from the 28 we had last year. We know we had anticipated up to 33 teams, but we had some last-minute cancellations due to logistics.”

The teams will play out of four pools, comprising of two with eight teams and two with seven with the winning team out of pool one crossing over to play the winner of pool four and the winners of pools two and three will clash in the semifinals, starting 5pm on Sunday, February 23.

This year, Wilton Russell, president of Street Legends, has come on board to assist tournament directors Nicara Curtis and Vincent Sullivan in putting together the pools and the schedule of games that will be contested during the tournament, which has a slight change in the format with the visiting teams playing from as early as Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

“A lot of the rankings had to be differentiated, depending on when these teams will arrive,” Russell said. “We had to structure the tournament where most of the games will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the visiting teams are not coming in until Wednesday. So we have tried our best to slot in the teams to play in the double elimination tournament.

“We expect some fierce competition. We have the Noble Preparatory Academy and if you know Mr (Geno) Bullard and his programme, they are a winning team playing on the circuit for a long time. There are some good teams and there are some unknown teams. The competition level is going to be fierce.”

The two winners will tangle in the championship game that will be contested on Monday, February 24, starting at 8pm at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. The winning team will be awarded the opportunity to participate in the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Education and the Street Legends’ joint Caribbean High School Championship Basketball Tournament scheduled for the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium April 18-20.

“There hasn’t been a true champion in the Caribbean region. The Hugh Campbell is the No.1 tournament in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” Russell said. “But what we wanted to do was try to see if we can include the top teams in the Caribbean to come together.

“This is the national tournament of the Bahamas, so we want to take the winner of Hugh Campbell to go up against the top ranked school on every Caribbean island. Only the winning team from the Hugh Campbell Basketball Tournament will be allowed to participate in the tournament.”

The most valuable player of the Hugh Campbell Tournament is expected to receive a laptop computer.

The CC Sweeting Cobras, coached by Mario Bowleg, are the defending champions.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force has announced that they will beef up security in and outside of the gyms, so parents should not be too concerned about the safety of their childen and even themselves when they attend the games.

Commonwealth Bank is one of the major sponsors and Vitamalt will be providing all of the trophies for the event. Other sponsors include Original Patties and Scotiabank.

“Over the next days, you can look forward to a very secured environment,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Moxey, who is in charge of the Grove Police Station. “What we have done is we have drawn officers from throughout the Royal Bahamas Police Force to assist in this security measure.

“So families, students, feel free to come out and enjoy yourselves in a safe environment and enjoy the games itself. The games won’t be running very late, so you can take that in account. Plus a portion of the games will be held over the mid-term break, so feel free to come out with your families and enjoy the games.”

Ticket prices for all games on Monday and Tuesday, starting at 3:30pm, will be $4. On Wednesday, each of the two sessions, starting at 1 and 6pm, will be $5. Any students in uniform with their school identification will be charged half price.

On Thursday, the two sessions, starting at noon and 5pm, will be $6. On Friday and Saturday, the first session starting at 9am will be $4, the second session starting at 2pm will be $5 and the final session, scheduled to start at 7pm, will be $6.

However, for the pool championships on Sunday, patrons will be charged $6, the same as the championship game. Tickets are currently available at the AF Adderley Junior High School.