The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sport Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the restrictions still in place for COVID-19, the Lucayan Basketball Club was still able to pull off a successful Rumble in the Jungle Basketball Tournament over the weekend.

The two-day event was staged at the Hope Centre basketball courts with games played in the primary, junior and senior high schools as well as the girls and men’s divisions.

“This is the first tournament that we hope to put on every year to prep our kids for their summer tour of the United States,” said tournament director Ricardo Lees.

According to Lees, the event was a success.

“Our kids were craving to play some basketball in the Bahamas and just to be able to come out here and move around on the court was a wonderful opportunity,” he said.

To ensure that they abide by the safety protocols in place, Lees said everyone had to wear their masks and use the hand sanitisers provided and ensured that they did the social distance.

Open Men’s Championship

In what turned out to be a nail-biter between two undefeated teams at 3-0, the Park Boyz used their wealth of experience to wear down the youthful Eagles Nest in the fourth quarter to surge to a 39-32 victory.

The game was keenly contested with the score tied at 30-30 before the Park Boyz, behind the combo of Abel Joseph, Floyd ‘Tiny’ Armbrister Jr and Christoff Stuart led the attack down the stretch. “I think we were very aggressive and although we were tense, we wanted to make sure that we won the first Lucayan Basketball Tournament,” said Park Boyz coach Trevor Turnquest.

Turnquest said based on what he saw, the tournament was well-organised under the COVID-19 restrictions and he hopes that the organisers will be back to make it bigger and better in the future.

Stuart led the Park Boyz with 14, while Jonaldo Joseph posted a game high 16 in a losing effort. “I was comfortable with our performance because we went out there and played our game,” said Eagles Nest coach Sterling Pratt.

“We came into the game thinking that the Park Boyz were smarter than us. We had youth on our side, so we were trying to do our best to defend Abel Joseph and Christoff Stuart. At the end we just didn’t box out. Nobody likes to lose, but someone has to win and someone has to lose.”

Pratt commended Lees and Lucayan Basketball Club for putting on a successful tournament that had all of the safety measures in place.

Senior Boys’ Championship

Coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson’s Providence Storm Basketball Club, comprising most of their players from the CI Gibson Rattlers, remained undefeated as they routed the Hpyer Ballers 32-18.

Charles Joseph scored a side high nine points in the win, while Anthony Durmont matched that in a losing effort.

Junior Boys’ Championship

The Island Dreams, coached by Layota Rolle, got a game high 11 points from Michael Albury as they exploded past the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons 21-16. Kamari Minnis had six in the loss.

Primary Boys’ Championship

The Freedom Warriors, coached by Josiah Major, got a game high 10 points from Lionel Rolle in their 16-14 nipping of the Matrix Basketball Club. Bryan Neely scored six in a losing effort.

Girls’ Basketball Championship

The Hyper Ballers, coached by Robert ‘Preacher’ Colebrooke, won the girls’ title with a 23-12 decision over the Lady Lucayans. There was also a three-point shooting competition that was won by Darian Rolle, while Nicholas Jones carted off the slam dunk title.