The Tribune

THE inaugural Hooping by the Park Basketball Tournament was not just about playing the game, but it was also about giving back to those persons who would have made a contribution to the growth and development of the sport over the years.

Accomplished basketball standout Jabari Wilmott, who in his own rights decided to give back to the Fox Hill community by staging the tournament, said he was pleased to honour coach Stanford 'Toad' Davis and the late players Reuben 'Cheetah' Knowles, Reginald 'Bobby Bird' Demeritte and Roberto 'Robbie' McKinney.

While Davis, who has coached and continues to coach many youngsters in the community, was the only one alive to receive the honour, family members of the deceased Knowles, Demeritte and McKinney were on hand during the presentation held on championship night of the tournament.

According to Wilmott, Hooping by the Park meant more to him than just a basketball tournament.

"This tournament was designed to accomplish two goals, one of which was to bring positivity and active participation to the sport of basketball within the Fox Hill community and the other to reconnect the young people to an environment of team work and camaraderie within the community. "I am confident that through the dedication and hard work of the committee, we surpassed these goals. Too often the word Fox Hill is associated with negativity. This tournament showed how strong and proud we are as Fox Hillians. It reminded people how talented and passionate we are about the sport of basketball and that we still are a basketball hub within this nation."

Wilmott thanked his committee that included Karon Pratt, Brent Stubbs, Shawn Bastian, Christian Wilmore, Tunde Davis and Tonya Chea, Neville Taylor, also known as 'the Voice,' Barry Wilmott, the Fox Hill Festival Committee, MP Shonel Ferguson, the table officials and basketball referees for helping to make the event a success.

"Most importantly, I would like to express gratitude to the Royal Bahamas Police Force," Wilmott said. "These men and women committed their full support by providing a strong police presence throughout the duration of the tournament."

The tournament was sponsored by Rubis Bahamas, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Barry Ramsey of Impact Images, Caribbean Bottling Company Limited, Ministry of Sports, Original Hot Patties, Dwight Glinton, KB Photography and numerous close family and friends. "Moving forward, we want to make this tournament bigger with more of an impact," Wilmott said. "We believe this tournament has great potential to be one of the most anticipated tournaments. But, we're also mindful that it's a long journey and hard work and dedication are the principles that we'll need to reach our long-term goals."

Next year, Wilmott said they hope to attract more outside teams from around the island to participate in our tournament, especially in the junior and ladies divisions. "Our intended strategy is to bring Bahamian professional basketball players to host a free basketball clinic for the kids or as simple as inviting top local players around the island to participate in the Men's open division," he said.

"Most importantly, we want to stress the importance of discipline to our coached and players. We hope to have their commitment to be on time for games, and attend meetings prior to the tournament."

On behalf of the committee, Wilmott also expressed condolences to the family of the late Javon 'Debo' Johnson, a young leader in the Fox Hill area. Johnson was a participant in the tournament but he was shot and killed early Saturday morning, August 4, 2018.

"This is why the tournament meant a lot to me," Wilmott stressed. "Like I said, it's more than just a tournament. He spent his last few hours on the basketball court socializing with friends and families. It's unfortunate what happened to him, but his presence was greatly felt from above. May his soul rest in peace."

The tournament got started on Friday night and wrapped up on Emancipation night on Freedom Park where the champions in the under-16, under-19 and men's divisions were crowned. Wilmott attempted to showcase the ladies as well, but there were no teams entered.

Here's a summary of the games played:

Under-16 division

SM Elites 54, Ballers Elite 39: Jayden Strachan was named the most valuable player after he scored a game high 15 points for the SM Elites, coached by Sanchez Moss, who went undefeated in the tournament.

Garreth Edgecombe helped out with eight, Emanuel Alexander and Christian Sturrup both had six, while Saheed Sanusi chipped in with five.

In a losing effort for Ballers Elite, B Pierre scored 14 points and D McIntosh added 10.

SM Elites opened a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and went up 26-14 at the half. They coasted to a 38-30 margin at the end of the third and never trailed in the fourth.

Under-19 division

Eagles Nest 84, Red Barons 63: After losing their only game during the double elimination process to the Red Barons, the Eagles Nest came back with vengeance in the final as Tyrell Butler earned the MVP, scoring 19 points, to lead a potent scoring attack for coach Sterling Pratt.

Dominic Bridgewater had a game high 23 points, Troy Tremley had 12 and Kirk Farrington finished with 13.

For the Red Barons, Saheed Sanusi poured in a game high 26 points; Jayden Strachan had 15 and Andre Rolle scored nine.

After opening a 23-17 margin at the of the first quarter, the Eagles Nest went up 43-33 at the half and 64-49 at the of the third. They were unchallenged in the fourth.

Men's division

Rocket Launchers 65, Monsters 63 in overtime: With cash prize instead of trophies on the line, Pocket Launchers, coached by Jermaine Leadon, also got revenge for their only loss in the tournament to the Monsters to cart off the title as Patrick Leadon canned 23 points to secure the MVP.

Latrel Hinsey had 22 points, Graylen Fraser had five and Leonard McPhee four to help out.

Lerecus Armbrister also had 23 to pace the Monsters, who also got 18 from DeVontee Gibson.

The Mosters led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Pocket Launchers went up 22-17 at the half. The Pocket Launchers stayed up 35-34 going into the fourth quarter. But at the end of regulation, the Monsters came back to force a 59-59 tie for the extra three minutes in overtime. The Pocket Launchers went on a 6-4 spurt to pull of the hard fought victory.

Special contests

On Sunday night, there was a three-point shooting contest that was won by Lerecus Armbrister and in the dunk contest, DeVontee Gibson emerged as the champion.

Wilmott indicated that he's looking forward to making the tournament a annual event during the Emancipation and Fox Hill Day festivities in August.