The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a pair of thrilling finishes in the sudden death semi-final rounds, the highly anticipated Government Secondary Schools Sports Association senior boys’ basketball championship series is all set.

The CI Gibson Rattlers and Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins are all set to face off in the finals for the third consecutive year when the series tips off

8pm Tuesday at the Kendal Isaacs Gym.

The Mystic Marlins advanced when they upset the top seeded and defending Hugh Campbell champions CC Sweeting Cobras, 49-43. Trae Davis had a team high 19 points to lead the Mystic Marlins. Lathaniel Bastian finished with 13 points. Corey Sands had nine points to lead the Cobras, Adrian Thompson scored

eight, Michael Bethel and Andreas Blacks each finished with six.

The Rattlers advanced with a 65-63 win over the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves. D’Aangelo Mackey’s awe inspiring 10-point fourth quarter earned the Rattlers the come from behind win and a trip to the championship series.

Despite the early efforts of Dominic Bridgewater and Brandon Williams – the tandem that poured in 20 combined first half points – the Timberwolves couldn’t hold on to its 12-point halftime lead. Mackey finished the game with 18 points, while Bradley Altidor posted 12 and Asher Scavella added another 11.

The Rattlers snatched the lead with a little less than four minutes to play after Mackey forced a turnover, ran the length of the court and finished with a layup.

The ensuing back and forth battle between the Wolves and Rattlers was capped by a game defining and-one play by Stephon Johnson who was fouled as he hit a floater from the top of the key. “We wanted it a little more. Anatol Rodgers is a good team, they hit all their shots in the first half and came out with a good game plan,” Rattlers head coach Kevin Johnson said. “We just wanted it more down the stretch we made the key baskets to win the game.”

In recent years, the Rattlers/Mystic Marlins matchup has featured five time Hugh Campbell champion Johnson leading his perennial contending Rattlers against his former player Denycko Bowles who has led the Mystic Marlins to GSSSA finals berth and their first Hugh Campbell title game in school history.

Bowles, who finished his high school days at CI Gibson when he helped coach Johnson win both the GSSSA and Hugh Campbell titles in 2006, has yet to top his former mentor in any of the end-of-season matchups.