The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE it was two straight victories for the CV Bethel Stingrays over arch-rivals CC Sweeting Cobras in the senior boys’ final, the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine was too much for CV Bethel to handle as they dominated the senior girls’ side of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s 2nd Annual National High School Volleyball Tournament.

At the end of the two-day tournament that was completed Saturday at the CI Gibson Gymnasium, the Big Red Machine steamrolled past the Stingrays with an impressive 25-16, 25-10 win as SAC redeemed its early exit in the initial tournament last year that was won by Grand Bahama’s Bishop Michael Eldon Warriors over the Teleos Cherubims.

On the other hand, the Stingrays made sure that they didn’t go down in their championship double header as they proved that their stunning victory over the Cobras in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s recent senior boys’ final was no fluke as they prevailed once again with a hard fought 25-14, 18-25, 15-13 decision.

SAC IN TWO SETS

OVER CV BETHEL

“It feels great. The kids haven’t played volleyball in almost a year together, so it feels good to come out here and play the way we did. Their spirits were really up for this one,” said SAC’s head coach Annie Moultrie, whose Big Red Machine won’t be playing volleyball in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) until next year.

Moultrie, assisted by Rebecca Moss, ran the biggest line-up assembled in the tournament as the Big Red Machine worked on their bump, set and spike routine that just created havoc for the Stingrays. Even in the second set, SAC had their two biggest hitters playing side-by-side and even when they went to the back court, CV Bethel was still unable to contain them.

“To tell you the truth, it’s not even my best line-up because I have players missing,” Moultrie said. “But we had some of the other players who stepped up and they wanted it a little more because last year was a trial for us and we had a couple of players who are graduating and they wanted it this year.”

Leading the way was Janelle Curtis, arguably the best player in high school. She provided the majority of the spark for the Big Red Machine as she earned the best spiker award during the round robin and was named the most valuable player in the final.

“I feel very good. It was a good tournament. We didn’t get into the final last year, but we came out this year and we played up to our potential,” Curtis said. “Most of the players are beginners. They just started coming out to practice, so we have some stuff to work on.

“But me and my co-captain Zorya Seymour, really want to go out with a bang this year. This is a good start for us. Hopefully it can carry over when we play in the (BAISS) regular season next year.”

What Curtis didn’t do, Seymour and perhaps, the tallest player on the team, Monika Cunningham, more than made up for it as they were fed some timely hits on the passing from setter Mechelle Moss. Kistacia Thompson added to the power punch in the first set, but was replaced by Zhizell McKenzie in the second and they didn’t even skip a beat.

“With their front line, we really couldn’t put anything up to them or it would have automatically been sent right back in your face,” said CV Bethel’s head coach Glenda Gilcud. “I tried to tell the girls, anything they do, they must try to push the ball in the back court. A lot of times, we didn’t do what we were told to do.”

Gilcud had one bright spot in Sevetra Johnson, who basically tried to carry the Stingrays on her back. But it just wasn’t enough, even though Tonique Ingraham, La’Kenya Gilcud and T’Keva Collie tried to help out. Johnson, by the way, was named the best digger in the tournament.

“We got a little sluggish, not wanting to move and play the ball,” Gilcud said. “SAC has a lot of national team players, but that didn’t give us the right not to put up a good fight. We had at least three good players who could have helped us out, but that didn’t happen.”

The Big Red Machine led 7-3 in the first and 9-5 in the second and they were never challenged.

STINGRAYS IN

THREE SETS OVER

THE COBRAS - AGAIN

During the recent GSSSA final, CV Bethel got the ball on a CC Sweeting error and Ramon Miller went to the service line and scored the next 14 points as the Stingrays blanked the Cobras in the third and deciding set to win their first title in the head-to-head match-up between the two power houses.

In their rematch on Saturday, with the score even at 1-1, the score was tied twice at 11-11 and 12-12 in the third and final set before Dewhone Murray drilled a spike and Miller served an ace for a 14-12 lead. Then when it counted the most, Donvanklyn Rolle thrilled the crowd with a game ending dink for the 15-13 win as the Stingrays celebrated over the Cobras for the second time.

“We were disappointed, but the better team won,” said CC Sweeting’s coach Clifton Walker. “We put up a fight and the result was much better than the last one. We ended up in second place, so we can’t really complain. We just have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for next season.

“The good thing is that we only have one player leaving in grade 12, so we will basically have our same team next year. All of our starting six will be back, so we will definitely be a force to reckon with next year.”

But for now, the Cobras had to soak in the agony of defeat as the Stingrays enjoyed the thrill of victory for the second time.

“It’s a great feeling. To God be the glory, great things he has done,” said Kevin Edgecombe, who took over the head coaching chores from Edna Forbes, who assisted him. “We knew (in the third set), we had to take it all the way. We’ve been working too hard to go home without the title tonight.”

Not just for the game winning shot, but his all-around stellar play as he rallied his Stingrays’ team-mates, Donvanklyn Rolle was named the MVP of the final. Sebastian Curtis, the small dynamite, was selected as the best digger. In a losing effort, Tyrone Sands Jr was voted the best spiker.

“We had our rough bumps, but we came out hard and we beat them again,” said Rolle about their victory. “We knew they were going to come for us, but we wanted them to come. I’m only in grade 11, but it’s a good feeling to win both (GSSSA and National) championships.”

In the consolation round, the CR Walker Knights polished off the Kingsway Academy Saints 25-15 in the one-set match for the girls’ third place, while the boys’ third spot was occupied by the CI Gibson Rattlers with their 25-10 decision over the Saints.

“My boys team just confirmed a few days before, so we really didn’t have a chance to get ready,” said Kingsway Academy’s coach Oswald Moore. “We had a few players missing who couldn’t play in the tournament because of their prior commitments. But we still played well.

“As for the girls’ team, they play a different style and they weren’t used to the ball coming over on just one play, so they were not prepared for it and we didn’t make the adjustment in time. The other team played well. We have the fundamentals and the skills, but they outplayed us.”

After winning their pool, CR Walker’s coach Floyd Armbrister felt they had the potential to go all the way to the final. However, as the current GSSSA champions, they got regulated to the consolation round by last year’s champions, CV Bethel in the crossover playoffs.

“This one was more fundamentally sound, compared to when we played CV Bethel,” Armbrister said. “This was the second time that we beat Kingsway. I like the fact that we got a chance to play against teams like Kingsway and SAC. This game was more the way that we are used to playing with the bump, set and spike and so we played much better. I really was hoping we would have played SAC.”

Chelly Austrade and Paultisha Clarke led a 1-2 punch for the Knights in the victory.

“I felt we could have done better against CV Bethel. Everybody wasn’t playing together, but in this game, we played our ball. We shared the ball around,” Austrade said. “We didn’t get to play for the title, but we managed to get third place instead.”

As for the boys’ consolation, the Rattlers struck out, taking an insurmountable 16-8 lead and they coasted to an easy victory from there as Isaac Emmanual, Michael Sweeting and Stephen Johnson produced a formidable combo for CI Gibson in their 25-10 win over Kingsway Academy.

“We won our pool, but we played a horrible game in the sudden death playoff. We were not mentally tough,” said Rattlers’ coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson. “CC Sweeting played an excellent game and they beat us to go to the championship. In that one game, we just didn’t get it done. You always want to win the championship, but CC Sweeting deserve to get there because of the way we played.”

After falling short of advancing to the final, Isaacs said their only goal left was to carry out Johnson’s instructions and they got the job done for third place.

Evon Wisdom, the sports director at the Ministry of Education, said he was pleased with the progress that has been made since they started the tournament two years ago. He thanked the Bahamas Volleyball Federation for the assistance they provided in getting the tournament off the ground.

Wisdom said that the BAISS schools, which have not yet began playing volleyball, came out and provided some excellent competition for the GSSSA schools, which have just completed their season. He was especially impressed by the Big Red Machine as they put on a stellar performance in winning the girls’ title and the Stingrays, who prevailed once again over the Cobras.

He also thanked JS Johnson for coming on board as their official sponsor and he hopes that as the tournament continues to grow, they will provide the financial assistance to help make it a success as they provide an avenue for the local public and private schools to compete against the Family Island schools.

With basketball next on the calendar for all schools, followed by track and field, Wisdom said the ministry is looking at partnering with both the Bahamas Basketball Federation and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations to host a similar national tournament for the two sports.