The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE St Thomas More Sparks repeated as the boys’ champions, while the St Cecilia’s Strikers avenged their girls’ loss last year to the St Francis/Joseph Shockers by clinching the title as the Catholic Diocesan Primary Schools wrapped up their best-of-3 basketball champions yesterday at Loyola Hall.

The Sparks, coached by N’Komo Ferguson, swept the Strikers, coached by Deven Johnson, winning 27-17 in the clincher after taking the opener 35-11 on Tuesday night. The performance came after Johnson’s Strikers pulled a 19-3 rout in game two of the girls’ series over the Shockers to complete their sweep after winning 18-12 on Tuesday as well.

The championships was played after the teams returned from Grand Bahama for the HOYTES/Michael Darville Basketball Tournament February 8-12 where St Francis/Joseph, coached by Donnie Culmer and Ricardo Freemantle, went undefeated at 5-0 to win the boys’ title as Michael Saunders was named the most valuable player.

St Cecilia’s was the runners-up. On the girls’ side, coach Johnson and St Cecilia’s also went undefeated at 5-0 as they won the title over the Temple Christian Suns as Brianna Hanna was named the MVP.

• Here’s a summary of the Catholic Primary Schools championship games played:

Boys’ series

Game two - Sparks 27, Strikers 17: Andru Arthur, in being named the MVP, exploded for a game high 12 points, Sha-Shawn Deveaux had seven and both Jelani Morris and Devon Davis chipped in with two points to help clinch the victory for St Thomas More.

“Back-to-back, it feels pretty good,” said Sparks’ coach Ferguson. “The first two quarters were pretty good, but in the third quarter we got a little fatigued and that was how they got back into the game. I couldn’t wait for that third quarter to finish.”

To start the fourth, St Cecilia’s came within four (17-13) but St Thomas More went on a 5-0 spurt to extend their lead to 22-15 with just about two minutes left. They used another 7-2 span to hold on for the win.

“We’re going to go for a three-peat because my team is still here,” coach Ferguson projected.

In their effort, Cayden King and Samuel Symonette both had five, Jermaine Dawkins three and both Benson Harris and Zakai Pinder helped out with two apiece, but it wasn’t enough to snap their losing streak.

“I’m not making any excuses for them, but most of my boys were ill after we came back from Freeport and they haven’t caught themselves since,” said St Cecilia’s coach Johnson. “But they fought a good fight until the end.”

Game one - Sparks 35, Strikers 11: Andru Arthur, with an all-around game, finished with 14 points, including four in the first quarter as they opened an 8-3 lead and another four in the fourth as they used a 9-2 spurt in the fourth to seal the blowout win in game one.

Sha-Shawn Deveaux added 13 points, six of which came in the third as they out-scored St Cecilia’s 14-1.

Girls’ series

Game two - Strikers 19, Shockers 3: MVP Raynell Young was unstoppable as she exploded for a game high 10 points and Brianna Hanna added six to help secure the clincher for St. Cecilia’s as they celebrated another championship title in two weeks.

“The girls performed as I expected them,” coach Johnson said. “This championship was overdue. St Francis beat me the last two years so I owe them that. I promised them that they were not going to beat me three years.”

The Strikers opened a surprising 8-0 lead in the first quarter as Young went to work, scoring six. They pushed it to 13-0 at the half as Hanna converted four free throws in the second quarter.

It wasn’t until the third that St Francis/Joseph got on the scoreboard when Sammeka Hepburn pulled down an offensive rebound and went back up for a lay-up for a 15-2 deficit. The Shockers didn’t score again until the fourth when Gianna Farquharson converted a free throw to trail 17-3.

“The girls tried their best,” said coach Freeemantle. “We tried our best to contain them, but they got away from us because we didn’t have any answer for their attack. I must say, most of the girls are first timers. We have one experienced girl. So I am happy with their effort. They did their best.”

Game one - Strikers 18, Shockers 12: Brianna Hanna scored eight points, six in the second quarter as St Cecilia’s rebounded from a 3-5 deficit in the first quarter to go up for good 9-6 at the half as they held on for game one victory.

Raynell Young had seven, scoring all four points for the Strikers in the fourth.

Sammeka Hepburn scored 12, including six to get St Francis/Joseph of to a fast start in the first quarter.