The Tribune

AS the local sports-less 2021 year came to a close last week, the Providence Storm Basketball Club managed to get in their annual Providence Christmas Holiday Classic without any fanfare on their home court at the CI Gibson Gymnasium.

For good measure, Providence Storm got to avenge their only loss in the tournament for clubs with senior high school basketball players in New Providence by closing out the three-day event with a slim two-point victory over the International Basketball Academy (IBA) Black in Thursday’s championship game.

Carting off the most valuable player (MVP) award was James Delia of the Providence Storm.

The Island Dream clinched the consolation third-place prize.

Although he admitted that he had a very young team to work with, head coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson said he and his assistant coach Mark Hanna did a great job in keeping their players focused on the goal ahead of them – the championship title.

“They played well, but they have a lot to learn about the game and they have a lot to grow,” Johnson said. “They’re very young. We’re talking about guys 14 and 15, so they have a lot to learn, very talented, but they have to learn to play the game the right way.

“It’s a process, but I’m looking forward to coaching them for the next few years and hopefully we will have sports once this thing (COVID-19) clears up. The majority of my boys are vaccinated, so we are ready to go, I just have a few that need to be vaccinated, other than that, we’re ready to go.”

The Providence Storm had to regroup as they got over their jetlag from returning home from Las Vegas where they played in the Tarkanian Classic from December 15-21 where they finished with a 2-2 win-loss record.

Providence Storm lost their first two and came back and won their final two in the classic, now in its tenth year of existence. A total of 110 boys and 238 girls teams entered the classic, held in memory of the late UNLV men’s basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. He coached the Rebels from 1973-1992, leading them to four Final Fours and a national championship in 1990.

“We were a little jetlagged, but no excuse because we’re a young team,” he said. “We have to continue to get better and we will do that. Between Las Vegas and this tournament, it was good for us. We need that.

“But we have to take care of ourselves because this new variant (Omicron) is rampant on the island, but other than that, everything went very well.”

Despite their loss, IBA head coach Denykco Bowles said his team performed really well.

“The team played hard and was really consistent,” said Bowles, who was assisted by Ricardo Pierre. “We went undefeated until the championship, which we lost by two points (to Providence Storm).

“Overall, it was a good showing. My team showed maturity and definitely grew during the tournament and for this I was extremely proud of them.”

Serving as the tournament director, Johnson said they followed all of the safety and health protocols implemented by the Ministry of Health and Wellness by only allowing the players inside the gym for the games.

“All of the teams played hard and we completed the tournament without any hiccups. Hopefully next year, we won’t be in the same position. But if we do, we will continue to follow the health and safety protocols put in place by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.”

• Results from the other games played in the tournament are as follows:

Providence Storm def. Timberwolves 48-34.

IBA Red def. Falcons 47-32.

IBA Black def. Island Dream 51-42.

Providence Storm def. IBA Red 57-41.

IBA Black def. Timberwolves 57-41.

Island Dream def. Falcons 55-38.

IBA Black def. IBA Red 68-28.

Providence Storm def. Falcons 59-44. IBA Red def. T-wolves 34-27.

IBA Black def. Falcons 40-32.

Providence Storm def. Island Dream 52-50.

Falcons def. Timberwolves 52-42.

Island Dream def. IBA Red 52-46.

IBA Black def. Providence Storm 52-48.

Island Dream def. Timberwolves 49-27.