The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Commonwealth Bank and Your Essential Store Giants were crowned champions once again this year.

The Bahamas Basketball Federation’s (BBF) National Basketball Championships were held this past weekend to determine which team reigned supreme in basketball throughout the entire Bahamas.

Division one play included teams from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini. The division two matchups included teams from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, South Andros, Eleuthera, Central Andros and Abaco.

The tournament commenced on April 13 and wrapped up this past Saturday.

Saturday’s action included the championship showdown between Abaco’s Showtime Ballers against New Providence’s Commonwealth Bank Giants.

In the final game of the night, the CB Giants closed the curtains on the Showtime Ballers, defeating them 107-89. The champions got off to a hot start against Abaco’s team, opening the game 18 to 6 and closed out the first quarter 40 to 24.

Jackson Jacob, the team’s Most Valuable Player, started his work early in the game, pouring in 21 of his team-high 26 points in the first half of the game. He also finished up the BBF championship win with six rebounds and seven assists.

Jacob got help from the team’s second highest scorer Dylan Musgrove, who picked up 20 points on an efficient 70% shooting percentage to pair with five rebounds and three assists.

The team effort was well rounded as the new BBF division one champions had five players score in double digits in the victory.

Jacob talked about his big night against the Showtime Ballers.

“To be honest it feels great to get a win, hats off to those guys they played their hearts out and they have really great talent over there, they pushed us to our limits and we just had to answer,” he said.

He said his first half motivation in the championship game was fuelled by negative chatter on social media about the Giants after their 66-75 loss to the Showtime Ballers. He added that he came into the game with the mindset to dominate early on after being motivated by the doubt on social media.

The CB Giants dominated in the paint against Abaco’s team with a whooping 62 to 30. Also, they collected 25 second chance points on the night compared to Abaco’s 11.

The New Providence team came out on top with bench points 29 to 20. Despite the CB Giants leading by as many 20 points in the game, the game was more competitive than the final score reflected.

After a big first quarter by the CB Giants, Abaco’s team mounted a big comeback to trim the Giants lead down to as little as one mere point. The team hosted a clinic from behind the arc ], draining 11 three pointers on the night. Their comeback was led by the game’s leading scorer, Godfrey Rolle Jr, who dropped 28 points to go with three assists and three rebounds. He was joined by fellow teammate Brandon Meadows who notched 24 points and seven rebounds.

Perry Thompson, head coach of the CB Giants, talked about his message to the team after the Showtime Ballers’ attempt at a comeback.

He said the team had gotten accustomed to the 8-minute quarters but playing 10-minute quarters in the championship game messed with the rotation a bit. However, despite the issue with his rotation, he gave credit to Abaco’s team for being a tough team and hitting a lot of big three-point shots in the game. The coach added that coming out of halftime, he told the bench to be ready and he felt the team responded well.

Despite the obstacles from the COVID-19 pandemic and some team roster changes, Thompson said in spite of all the challenges, the team stuck together and they now enjoy being on top.

Division Two

In division two action, the YES Giants accomplished a similar feat to the CB Giants after not only winning the 2023 NPBA championships but also the BBF national championship.

The YES Giants handled business against the Grand Bahama’s Just Run team in the division two championships 110-76. Both teams kept things relatively close in the first half with the score being 24-15.

However, the Giants flexed their championship pedigree and charged out to a 53-30 lead and never looked back. The team led by as many as 34 points.

The YES Giants MVP and leading scorer on the night was Matthew Saunders who scored 18 points to go with three assists and four rebounds. He was joined by teammate Brandon Strachan, who worked his way to 16 points along with five assists and three steals.

Perry Thompson, head coach of YES Giants, talked about the BBF division two championship win.

“It was important for us to bring the national division two trophy back home to Nassau when we put this team together, we knew that we had the opportunity to win locally and at the nationals, I am very proud of these guys and they stuck to the gameplan,” he said.

He added that the momentum coming off the 2023 NPBA title win really propelled the team to stay focused, and they knew what was at stake. Now it’s time to party.

The YES Giants crushed the paint with 66 points to 36 points from Grand Bahama’s team. Also, they amassed 24 fastbreak points compared to three from the opposing team.

Additionally, the Giants bench players poured in an eye opening 45 points off the pine to Just Run’s 11 points.

Both Giants teams will look to celebrate after wins in the 2023 NPBA championships and BBF national basketball championship.