The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Several of the best high school basketball players in the country took full advantage of the opportunity to showcase their skills at the fourth edition of the National High School Basketball Championships.

Several other athletes raised their stock in an effort to secure scholarships, set the tone for next year or simply end the season on a positive note.

The national champion St George’s Jaguars’ Paul Greene was named the MVP after he posted 22 points and 17 rebounds in the title game. He led the All-Tournament team selections along with fellow Jaguars teammates Shavaul Butters and Samuel Pinder.

Other All-Tournament selections included Travjuan Alleyne (Tabernacle), Anthon Williams (CC Sweeting), Nakajah Adderley (Patrick J Bethel), Tramaine Ferguson (Jack Hayward), Deyton Albury (Temple Christian), Bradley Lightbourne (Gateway), Ethan Munroe (Tabernacle), Valentino Simon (Government High) and Chester McPhee (Gateway).

The All-Defensive team included Lightbourne, Simon, Albury, Alleyne and Ferguson.

Lightbourne finished as the tournament’s leading scorer at 23.2 points per game and also led the tournament in several other statistical categories including steals per game (4.2), free throws made (44) and defensive rebounds per game (6.6)

Tyrese Porter of St John’s College was the second leading scorer at 20.5 points per game.

Other top scorers in the tournament included Hilton Pinder of Eight Mile Rock at 18.5 points per game, Prince William’s Quebell Martin at 17 points per game and Albury at 16.7 points per game.

Butters made more field goals than any other player in the tournament with 39, ahead of Lightbourne’s 33.

Adderley, was the tournament’s top rebounder with 10.5 rebounds per game, one of three players to average double figures in the category.

Agape’s Welton Chermise averaged ten rebounds per game while Simon was the lone player in the tourney to average a double double with his ten rebounds to go along with his 16 points per game.

Alleyne was the tournament’s leading shot blocker at 2.33 per game, while Albury averaged two and Butters was third at 1.86 per game.

Williams led the tournament in assists at 5.67 per game.

Munroe was the top three-point shooter with 11 made field goals from beyond the arch with Pinder second at ten three-point makes.

In the Senior Girls division, the St John’s College Giants got an MVP performance from Michelle Butler finished with 17, 14 rebounds five blocked shots in the title game. She averaged a double double at 11.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. She was also

Butler led the All-Tournament Team which also included Sidneya Hilarie and Laquan Sands. Other All-Tournament team members included Myah Greene (Bishop Michael Eldon), Antonicia Moultrie (SAC), D’Shante Cooper (CV Bethel), Erin Williams (Teleos), Shaquania Daxon (CI Gibson), Jaysline Carson (CI Gibson), Terojernea Duncombe (Tabernacle), Karolyn Baptiste (SAC) and Arlene Stubbs (Bishop Michael Eldon).

The All-Defensive team included Williams, Daxon, Moultrie and Butler.

Greene, the BMES versatile wing, was the leading scorer at 29.5 points per game. She was the top three point shooter with seven made field goals from beyond the arch.

Moultrie scored 16.6 points per game and Rolle was Cooper was third with 15 per game.

Cooper led the tournament in steals at 5.25 per game while Sands was the leader in assists at 3.5 per game.

Williams was the top rebounder at 20 boards per game.

These championships were created with the goal of showcasing top teams from various school leagues for the senior boys and girls divisions.

For boys, the various league champions earned automatic bids into the 18-team field which included nine teams from New Providence, six teams from Grand Bahama, two from Abaco and one from Bimini.

The Government Secondary Schools Sports Association were represented by the reigning league and Hugh Campbell champion Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins, CC Sweeting Cobras, CI Gibson Rattlers, Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves and Government High School Magic.

The Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools were represented by league champion St. John’s College Giants, Queen’s College Comets, Temple Christian Suns and Jordan Prince William Falcons.

The Teleos Cherubims were the lone school from the Bahamas Scholastic Athletic Association.

Teams out of Grand Bahama included the league champion St. George’s Jaguars, Eight Mile Rock Blue Jays, Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons, Sunland Baptist Academy Stingers and Jack Hayward Wildcats.

Agape Christian and Patrick J Bethel High School out of Abaco, and Gateway Christian out of Bimini rounded out the field.

The senior girls featured ten teams from New Providence and Grand Bahama. New Providence schools will once again included St John’s College and St Augustine’s College from the BAISS, Teleos Christian from the BSAA, Anatol Rodgers, CI Gibson, and CV Bethel from the GSSSA, Eight Mile Rock, Tabernacle, Bishop Michael Eldon and St Georges High School out of Grand Bahama.

Last year in Grand Bahama, the Tabernacle Baptist Falcons clinched the Division I title over the Jack Hayward Wildcats, the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins emerged as the senior girls’ champions over the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons and the Gateway Eagles secured the now defunct Family Island divisional crown.

In 2017, the St George’s Jaguars emerged as the story as they protected home court in their gymnasium by claiming the Division I title over Tabernacle. In the Family Island division, the Gateway Eagles won the national title and in the Senior Girls division, the Jordan Prince William Falcons won the national title.

The CC Sweeting Cobras won the inaugural Division I national title in 2016 while the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins won the girls title and Eight Mile Rock won the Family Island division.