The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Basketball Federation’s Annual BTC Bunny Levarity National Championships ended with the two titles shared between New Providence and Grand Bahama at the DW Davis Gymnasium on Saturday night.

Athletico Bahamas, a youthful team comprising of high school and recent graduates, made good of their first opportunity to play among their peers as they captured the B divisional title with a 64-62 triumph over Grand Bahama’s Gold Rock Gym Rats.

But in the men’s A division, the Grand Bahama Shipyard Cruisers sent the trio of MVP Scott Forbes, Quentin Hall and Franco Miller into retirement as they teamed up to help pull off a 73-72 nail biter over the Mail Boat Cybots.

There was no ladies’ division contested, leaving the Bommer G Lady Operators without any challenge to determine just how invincible they are after going undefeated in the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association.

Cruisers 73, Cybots 72: Clemente Martin hit a pair of free throws with one minute remaining to give Grand Bahama their final score. But with about 22 seconds, the Mail Boat had a chance to win the game, but Brian Bain rolled over on the floor trying to retrieve a loose ball and was called for traveling.

The Shipyard got the ball and they ran out the clock as they began their celebrations.

“This was a long time coming,” said Cruisers’ head coach Ross Burrows. “We built this team for the nationals. This was our purpose all season to come home and win the nationals.”

The Cruisers beat the Cybots for the second time in the tournament, winning 91-87 in overtime on Thursday night as Quentin Hall scored his only four points of the game in the extra period, including the game winning free throw.

Hall, hitting 6-of-11 three pointers, finished with a game high 18 points with four rebounds to lead the Cruisers’ offensive attack when it counted the most in the final. Martin finished with 12 points, three assists and three block shots; Scott Forbes scored 11 points with nine rebounds, five steals and four blocks in winning the MVP; Franco Miller had nine points, six steals, four rebounds and four assists and Irvin Lewis added nine points with six rebounds.

“Hats of to them. That was a hell of a game. I only wished more people was out there,” Hall said of the challenge they got from the Cybots. “That was a really good game, but it is what it is.”

And according to Forbes, it’s the end of the line for the talented trio – himself, Hall and Miller.

“We put all of our energy and effort out here for this one. We finally got one together and so we’re not going to challenge that and come back and get our behinds beat,” he said. “That’s it.”

Miller concurred, calling it a memorable ride.

“This has been fun. We’ve been doing this for years at every level, together we just bring out the best in each other,” Miller stressed. “It’s good to see that we end our career on a high note. That’s it. It’s done.”

The Cybots got 17 points with 11 rebounds from Eugene Bain. Georgio Walkes had 13 points and five rebounds; Livingstone Munnings 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks, while Lerecus Armbrister came through with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

But coach Wayde Watson said it wasn’t the way he wanted his Mail Boat to sail into the summer break.

“We had the game. With 24 seconds and in possession of the ball, the worse scenario was to turn it over and that is what we did,” he said. “We should have attacked the basket and at least get a foul, if we didn’t score. But it didn’t play out the way I expected.”

Now there’s more questions than answers for Watson as he look ahead to next season.

“It’s going to be a long summer. Some of these guys have been playing in the league for a long time and they wanted to win,” he said. “We will have to sit down and evaluate what we want to do and go from there. We had a fairly good season, but our goal was to win the national title and we didn’t do that.”

After leading 20-12 at the end of the first quarter, the Cybots found themselves trailing the Cruisers 39-36 at the half. Grand Bahama sailed into the fourth with a slim 54-52 margin at the end of the third.

The Mail Boat managed to tie the score 57-57 in the first three minutes of the fourth, thanks to a three-pointer from Brian Bain. But the Grand Bahama Shipyard was able to surge ahead 66-59 on the trail end of a lay-up from Leon Cooper.

With 1:48, Lerecus Armbrister’s jumper pulled the Cybots within two, 70-68. But the Cruisers were able to stay ahead and held on for the close encounter.

Athletico Bahamas 64, Gold Rock Gym Rats 62: With 6.1 seconds left on the clock, Shakwon Lewis canned a pair of free throw to lift Athletico Bahamas to their B divisional title.

“I felt very confident. I’ve been working hard on my game and so I felt I deserved to go for the win because I tried the team on my back,” said Lewis, who is not expected to return next year as he’s scheduled to go of to college in August. “It’s a good feeling to win.”

While Lewis ended up with 16 points and seven assists, Dylan Musgrove exploded for a game high 26 points with six rebounds to earn the MVP honors. Jamaris King chipped in with eight points. Adam Johnson was held to just three points with eight rebounds.

“This is a great win. We’re a young new team, but we played hard to get this win,” said Musgrove, the son of former basketball star Gordon ‘Slanks’ Musgrove. “We overcame the doubts that a lot of people had about us. We are the division II champions.”

Franklyn Petion, who tied the score at 62-62 in a jumper with 21.5 seconds to play, led Grand Bahama with 16 points and six rebounds. Pedro Williams added 13 points and six rebounds as well. Franco Miller contributed 11 points with nine rebounds and Kaleel Solomon added 10 points.

“It was a good game fought by both teams. Mu guys came out strong, but we made two mistakes in the latter part of the game and we were not successful,” said Gym Rats; coach Arnold Mather. “Hats of to the Nassau they. They played very well and they won the game.”

The Gold Rock led 18-12 after the first quarter, only to relinquish the lead to Ahletico in the second quarter as they held a slim 33-32 margin at the half. Athletico again led 49-46 at the end of the third, but it was a close encounter throughout the fourth.

Here’s a look at the scoreboard from all of the games played:

Thursday

South Andros Police Enforcers 75, Bimini Marlins 56 (Men’s B).

Athletico Bahamas 72, San Salvador 54 (Men’s B).

GB Shipyard 91, Mail Boat 87 (Men’s A).

Friday

Athletico Bahamas 45, GB Gold Rock 35 (Men’s B).

Mail Boat Cybots 83, Harbour Island Panthers 59 (Men’s A).

GB Gold Rock Gym Rats 66, Bimini Marlins 39 (Men’s B).

Saturday

Athletico Bahamas 69, South Andros Police Enforcers 46 (Men’s B).

Gold Rock Gym Rats 50, San Salvador 45 (Men’s B).

Shipyard Cruisers 71, Harbour Island Panthers 64 (Men’s A).

Athletico Bahamas 67, Bimini Marlins 25 (Men’s B).

Gold Rock Gym Rats 59, South Andros Police Enforcers 48 (Men’s B).

San Salvador 33, Bimini Marlins 28 (Men’s B).

Athletico Bahamas 64, Gold Rock Gym Rats 62 (Men’s B).

Shipyard Cruisers 73, Mail Boat Cybots 72 (Men’s A).