By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
AFTER a day’s rest, the Bahamas girls basketball team came back and routed Trinidad & Tobago by 53 points to win their pool play in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation’s Under-16 Girls Basketball Championship Tournament.
In their 89-36 rout, Valencia Demeritte posted another game high 26 points, Brionte Riley had 16, Tanae Bowleg 13 and Kendise Smith added 10 in a balanced scoring attack as the Bahamas improved to 2-0.
The win came after the Bahamas opened play on Tuesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in Georgetown, Guyana when they held off Suriname 59-54.
Head coach Varel Davis said the team played exceptionally well.
“The team’s performance was excellent tonight. We capitalised on their mistakes and our defence was a lot better from our first game,” said Davis, who is assisted by Charlene ‘Swish’ Smith and Anastacia Moultrie.
“We also made a lot of lay-ups. The last game we missed a few and we cut down on the turnovers, so the win was very good tonight. We are now preparing for the crossover tomorrow (today).”
After securing another victory to wrap up pool B, Davis said she wasn’t surprised at the performance.
“I know these girls, once they come to play, no team in this tournament can play with us,” she said. “I know when we cross over, we have a very good chance of making it to the gold medal round because we have one of the best teams in this tournament.”
Up to press time, the Bahamas was still waiting to find out who their opponent will be today from pool A, which includes Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Antigua & Barbuda and Guyana.
But Davis said it doesn’t matter. They are on a mission in Guyana.
“Most likely we will be playing the feature game tomorrow night, so we will be ready to play,” Davis said.
“The girls are really excited about the way they have played so far, so we are hoping to continue to play as well as we’ve done so far.”
The Bahamas will need to win today’s game in order to clinch a berth in Saturday night’s championship game, but Davis is confident that they can get the job done.
“Our goal right now is to get to the gold medal game. If these girls continue to do what we are doing right now, we should be able to get there,” Davis said. “But I’m very proud of the way they are plying right now. We just have to wait to see how tomorrow (today) goes.”
The girls are hoping to join the boys’ team that won their version of the tournament last week with a 84-57 win over host Guyana as Domnick Bridgewater was named the most valuable player after scoring a game high 34 points with eight steals.
The boys’ team, coached by Quinton ‘Three-Ounch’ Hall, along with Guyana and third place finishers Jamaica, qualified for the Under-17 CentroBasket Championships.
The girls’ team is hoping to qualify as well after Saturday’s finale.
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