The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE CI Gibson Rattlers survived three tough matches against the New Providence champions last night to book their ticket against the highly favoured Tabernacle Falcons in tonight’s final of the 35th Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Rattlers, runners-up in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s championships, prevailed with a 59-43 rout over the defending tournament champions CC Sweeting Cobras, then they outlasted the GSSSA champions Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves 68-60 that ended in a big brawl before they finished with a 67-64 win over the BAISS champions Jordan Prince William Falcons.

“It was very difficult. Last night they said we would have played one, but they made a change,” said Rattlers’ coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson after their clincher over Jordan Prince William. “We were mentally tough and we were prepared to fight the battle. We did and our goal was to get to the championship and just execute.”

Against another champion, Tabernacle Academy, who won the Grand Bahama title, Johnson said he’s confident that his Rattlers will still have enough left in the sting for the grand finale that starts at 9pm.

“These young men have been running hard after a stunning loss to CC Sweeting in the government schools championships,” he said. “They were determined to get in shape for this type of game and we did it.”

The Falcons, coached by Kevin Clarke, will be well rested, having secured their berth in the final on Saturday night when they handed Jordan Prince William another heartbreaking loss, 70-68.

• On page 4 is a summary of the elimination games played on Saturday and Sunday:

Rattlers 67, Falcons 64: Tyrell Butler scored on a lay-up to put CI Gibson up by one and on a Jordan Prince Williams turnover, Terrance Storr put the icing on the cake when he broke away for a two-handed slam dunk just before the buzzer sounded as they celebrated with their fans.

Butler finished with 17 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists. Asher Scavella also had 27 points with seven rebounds and four steals; Storr had 16 points and Deon’ta Tinker contributed nine.

Frantwoin Newton led the Falcons with a game high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Sherman Marshall had 11 points and six rebounds; Wilfred Ferguson also had 11 points and Adam Johnson chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, six steals and four block shots.

Falcons 70, Falcons 68: With 15 seconds left on the clock, Franco Miller canned a pair of free throws to seal the deal for Tabernacle Academy on Saturday night.

While Miller hit the winning two free throws to finish with 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds, D. Regis Cooper had a side high 18 points and six rebounds for Tabernacle Baptist.

Both Alfredo Brown and Seandre Todd contributed nine points and Shamell Greene chipped in with eight points.

For Jordan Prince Williams, Adam Johnson pumped in a game high 23 points with 10 rebounds, six block shots, five steals and three assists before he cramped up and couldn’t finish the game late in the fourth quarter.

Frantwoin Newton had 22 points and six rebounds; Wilfred Ferguson had 13 points and Sherman Marshall added 10 points.

Rattlers 68, Timberwolves 60: A bench clearing brawl resulted in the GSSSA champions Anatol Rodgers conceding defeat with about 20 seconds left on the clock. CI Gibson, playing their second game of the day, was awarded the victory as they advanced to the semifinal.

Terrence Storr came up with 23 points and four rebounds to lead the Rattlers. Asher Scavella had 19 points with 10 rebounds; Derrio Saunders added 10 points with six assists,five rebounds and four steals.

Dominic Bridgewater canned a game high 32 points with 12 rebounds, five steals and three assists to pace Anatol Rodgers as they got eliminated. Jayson McHardy had nine points and Kirklyn Farrington added seven points.

Rattlers 59, Cobras 43: CI Gibson ousted the defending champions CC Sweeting as Terrance Storr exploded for 32 points five rebounds and four steals to almost single handedly secure the win. Asher Scavella was their next best scorer with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Marco Beckford finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Cobras. Both Ricardo Mathieu and Brandon Strachan had six points. Strachan also had eight rebounds and four assists.

Timberwolves 63, Jaguars 58: Anatol Rodgers eliminated St George’s as Tayson McHardy led the attack with 20 points and four rebounds.

Dominic Bridgewater had 18 points seven assists and five rebounds and Devon Bonaby had 12 points.

The Grand Bahama Jaguars had a balanced scoring attack with Davonte Jennings scoring 17 points; Howard Hinzey had 16 points and 16 rebounds; Ahmad Harvey had 11 points and eight rebounds and Tericko Moss added 10 points with eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

Cobras 40, Knights 30: The defending champions CC Sweeting kept their hopes alive as Brandon Strachan came up with 18 points and nine rebounds as they cut through the big CR Walker line-up for the win.

Marco Beckford added 11 points. Kriston Munroe didn’t score, but he pulled down 10 rebounds.

Denero Lightbourn had 14 points and Cassius Turnquest helped out with eight for CR Walker as they were eliminated. Comando Seymour also didn’t score, but he had a game high 12 rebounds.

Stingers 40, Wildcats 34: Tricio Moss scored 14 points, Deonte Jennings had 10 points and eight rebounds; Ahmad Harvey 10 points and five rebounds and Kyle Smith 10 points, four steals and three rebounds to pace St George’s to victory in an all-Grand Bahama match-up.

For Sir Jack Hayward, Trimaine Ferguson came up with nine points and 12 rebounds as they got eliminated. Sherico Anderson also had nine points and Clevon Clarke had eight points and five rebounds.

Falcons 55, Timberwolves 51: In a match-up of the two New Providence champions that was delayed until the organizers dealt with a protest over an illegal player, Jordan Prince Williams emerged Frantwoin Newton exploded for a game high 24 points and seven rebounds.

Adam Johnson scored 16 points with three rebounds and two block shots and Sherman Marshall had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Dominic Bridgewater had 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals for Anatol Rodgers. Devon Bonaby had 10 points and five rebounds and Devanno Whitfield had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Falcons 47, Rattlers 33: In a showdown between two undefeated teams, Grand Bahama’s Tabernacle Academy got the better of the deal as Franco Miller came up with a game high 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Seandre Todd had 11 points and three rebounds and Alfredo Brown had nine points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

CI Gibson got 10 points and 12 rebounds from Asher Scavella and Tyrell Butler, Derico Burrows and Domnick Burnside all had five points. Burnside also had seven rebounds and four blocks.

Knights 47, Marlins 44: In a rematch between the New Providence-Abaco Central schools from the second day of competition, CR Walker prevailed again as Comando Seymour powered inside for a game high 15 points and 23 rebounds.

Cassius Turnquest had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals; Denneko Lightbourn had six points; both Omar Rolle and Tre Greene had five points and Deangelo Elsee only had four points, but he got six rebounds and five blocks.

Jason Petit had 10 points, five rebounds and four steals as the Marlins got eliminated. Deneko McIntosh added seven points, six rebounds and five steals.

Abaco Central got 10 points, five rebounds and four steals from Jason Petit and Dremeko McIntosh added seven points with six rebounds and five steals.

Cobras 51, Stingers 46: In a rematch of last year’s championship, CC Sweeting proved that they were still a little better than their Grand Bahama counterparts as Brandon Strachan scored 15 points with eight rebounds and five steals. Anthon Williams had nine points and 12 rebounds.

Jaguars 56, Magicmen 32: Howard Hinzey had 11 points and 10 rebounds as St George’s ousted Government High. Ahmad Harvey added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Magicmen, who ran out of tricks, Mario Nairn scored 10 points and Pedro Knowles eight points.

Wildcats 33, Bluejays 32: In a showdown of two Grand Bahama teams, Sir Jack Hayward sent Eight Mile Rock packing as Mickell Bethel scored 11 points and 11 rebounds. Clevon Clarke and Jalen Hall both had six.

Jordan Smith scored 14 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Bluejays. Their next best scorer was Delano Dean with just points.