The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Sunland Stingers were the most dominant team throughout the 38th Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic and the programme claimed their first tournament title in school history.

The Stingers took an 81-68 win over the CC Sweeting Cobras in the 2020 tournament finale last night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

Sunland previously finished as runners-up in the tournament on two occasions and finally achieved the elusive Hugh Campbell title led by 22 points from MVP Rolontae Knowles.

These teams previously met in the 2016 Hugh Campbell final but a balanced scoring effort this time around led the Stingers to the 2020 title.

Sharpshooter Juvens Loucious finished with 19 points off the bench, Deandre Hield scored 16 and grabbed eight rebounds, Martie Davis added eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks while floor general Oswald Meadows nearly posted a triple double with eight points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals.

Christian Manace led the Cobras with 22 points and Haywood Seymour finished with 17.

The Stingers got off to another stereotypical fast start with back-to-back jumpers from Knowles and an 8-0 lead.

The lead reached double figures for the first time (19-8)when Knowles finished a fastbreak and they took that lead into the second quarter.

The Sunland run continued into the second quarter with Loucious’ second three pointer for a 34-17 lead.

The Cobras went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to just 10 on a Rickey Moxey Jr fastbreak layup (34-24) with 1:02 left in the half.

Davis ended the brief drought for the Stingers with his rebound and putback and Hield’s late jumper gave the Stingers a 38-25 lead at the half. In the third, Meadows led the fastbreak with a no-look pass to Demetrius Douglas for a 40-25 lead. Meadows again successfully converted a three-point play for a 54-34 lead with 1:13 left to play in the quarter.

The Cobras got late threes from Manace and La’Shaun Bassett but still trailed 58-42 headed into the fourth. The Cobras never came within single digits in the fourth and the Stingers’ lead ballooned to as much as 23.

Stingers head coach Jay Philippe said the win was bigger than basketball for his programme and for the entire island of Grand Bahama.

“It was all about executing the game plan and we wanted to stay disciplined the entire game. We maintained composure, we were able to control the game, I am so proud of these guys. I am so proud of Sunland and I’m proud of Grand Bahama,” he said. “Things were rough after Hurricane Dorian, we almost didn’t have a season and basketball was on the back burner. After Dorian I had several guys from Agape added to my roster and intact, out of my 15 players 11 guys are from Abaco and they suffered through the storm losing family, home and in some cases everything they had so this win means so much to these guys and this programme.”

The Stingers ran through the tournament virtually untested and won by an average margin of 18.4 points per game.

Sunland opened the tournament with a 66-43 win over Government High Magic. They followed with another blowout win in game two (62-28) over the Akhepran Scarabs. Game three was another lopsided win over the Magic (84-70).

In the Pool Championship, they advanced to the finals with a 41-27 win over the St George’s Jaguars.

CC’s path to the title game included wins over CV Bethel (43-37) and a pair of wins over Bimini’s Gateway Academy (54-42 and 60-55) and they defeated the GSSSA champion Doris Johnson in the Pool Championships.

After a successful summer travelling to play in tournaments in the US, the Stingers began their season of milestones with the 2020 Pizza Hit Tip-off Classic.

They were the league’s top team all season long but suffered a surprising upset loss in the Grand Bahama Secondary Schools Athletic Association championship series to the Tabernacle Falcons in three games.