The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Dame Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins can celebrate as the initial champions of the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association’s All-Girls High School Basketball Tournament held in honour of long-time basketball coach Anthony Swaby at the DW Davis Gymnasium over the weekend.

In the championship game Sunday night, the Mystic Marlins held off the Teleos Cherubims for a 46-34 victory after both teams had to go through a tough sudden death playoffs earlier in the day. While the Cherubims opened by pulling off a 28-23 win over the Queen’s College Comets, the Mystic Marlins knocked off the CI Gibson Rattlers.

“The team put some work in and throughout the tournament, you could see that they improved each game and in the championship game, they put on an excellent performance,” said Doris Johnson’s head coach Kevon Spence.

The Mystic Marlins opened a 29-16 lead at the half and they extended it to 45-20 in the second half as Spence went deep in his bench. But as the Cherubims started to turn things around as Angelique Bethel got in a couple of steals and led the fast break to trim the deficit down to 46-34, the Mystic Marlins starters came back to finish off the job.

“We have a lot of beginning players and we wanted to give them some exposure in a big game and what it’s like to play at this level,” Spence said. “So we just gave them a chance. It’s a learning process, but we like games like these because we can expose all of our players to this level of basketball.”

Thyrell Thompson kept Dame Doris Johnson in the game by scoring eight of her 14 points in the second half. Briontae Riley had 11 and Antenique Young and Tanae Bowleg scored 10 apiece.

Bethel, who had 12 in the second half, led Teleos with 20 points, Marquella Dean had six and Aaliyah Gibson added four in a losing effort.

“We have a small school with 181 students, so I’m very proud of them, from their accomplishments in volleyball championship, finishing third in the nation, to coming second in this basketball tournament,” said Teloes’ coach Pastor Dave Adams. “The same girls played in both tournaments, so we are appreciative to God for what he has allowed us to achieve.

“I’m also thankful to my senior Angelique Bethel. She’s the horse that I ride straight through. I’m sure she was one of the most outstanding players in the tournament. She was also named to the All-Tournament team. So we are very appreciative of what we did in this tournament.”

• Here’s a summary of the games played in the tournament:

Mystic Marlins 33, Rattlers 26

After opening a 21-17 lead at the half, Dame Doris Johnson had to dig down deep to hold onto the win as some of their starters got in foul trouble to clinch their berth into the big dance.

Tanae Bowleg, who scored nine in the first half, had a game high 13, Briontae Riley had eight and both Antenique Young and Thyrell Thompson had six each. Latavia Brennen and Ramika Ellis both had six and Rose Johnson added five in a losing effort.

Cherubims 28, Aces 23

It seemed as if Teleos was going to blow Queen’s College out of the gym after they coasted to an impressive 17-5 lead at the half, thanks to Angelique Bethel’s 13 points. But the Comets stormed back and made a contest out of it right down to the final buzzer.

Bethel finished with 14, Aaliyah Gibson had nine and Kizzy Evans chipped in with five. Jada Saunders scored nine and Tylatrevia Collymore added seven in the loss.

Mystic Marlins 31, Stingrays 18

After opening a 17-10 lead on six points from Thyrell Thompson, five from Briontae Riley and four from Tanae Bowleg, Dame Doris Johnson went on to breeze to their opening victory. Bowleg finished with 10, Thompson had nine, Riley seven and Antenique Young five.

Aisha Thompson and Shanley Northe both had five in the loss.

Cherubims 33, Saints 17

Angelique Bethel was a one-woman wrecking crew, scoring 10 of her game high 19 points in a 14-12 first half run. Aaliyah Gibson added eight. Chyna Curry scored nine in the loss.

Rattlers 26, Saints 15

Latavia Brennen scored seven as CI Gibson opened a 13-7 lead. She finished with nine, Albertneisha Rox had six and Rose Johnson five in the win. Chyna Curry had eight and Makhela Bowleg five in the loss.

Comets 15, Stingrays 10

In one of the lowest scoring games of the tournament, Queen’s College led 7-3 at the half and held on for the win. Anna Woodside, Tianna Carey and Jada Saunders all scored three in the win. Shanyhan Bowe had five in the loss.

Cherubims 27, Rattlers 16

Angelique Bethel scored nine again in the first half as Teleos opened a 13-10 lead. Bethel finished with 18 and Marquella Dean chipped in with six. Enequell Parker and Rachel Sands scored five and four respectively in the loss.

Big Red Machine 19, Saints 16

In their only game played, St Augustine’s College got eight from O’Brae Carey and six from Evaunghaja Munroe as they posted their victory. Chyna Curry had six in the loss.

Mystic Marlins 30, Aces 14

Tanae Bowleg scored 11, Antenique Young had 10 and Briontae Riley seven in the win for Dame Doris Johnson. Tylatrevie Collymore had six in the loss.

Note: The list of players named to the All-Tournament team were Antenique Young and Briontae Riley, both from Dame Doris Johnson, Antinique Bethel from Teleos, Chyna Curry from Kingsway Academy and Tylatrevie Collymore from Queen’s College.