The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BEFORE they head off for their national team duties for the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, guard Domnick Bridgewater and centre Jaraun ‘Kino’ Burrows left their mark on the Bahamas Basketball Federqtion’s Summer of Thunder Tournament.

The duo, who are playing professional basketball in France and represented the champions Eleuthera Adventurers in the 6th Bahamas Games, combined for 72 points as the Raw Talent Elite nipped the Virginia Military Institute 94-93 on Sunday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

In the first game of the tournament, Bridgewatger erupted for a game high 47 points, including three clutch free throws with just 24 seconds left to push Raw Talent up 94-91 and finished with three rebounds, three assists and as many steals.

Burrows powered down inside for 25 points with five assists, three rebounds, a pair of block shots and a steal.

Jordan Wilson helped out with seven points, seven rebounds, three steals and block and both Van Hutchinson Jr (eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block) and Richard Lowe added four points.

Virginia Military had a more balanced scoring attack with six players in double figures, led by Taeshaud Jackson II scoring 15 points with 12 rebounds and a pair of assists, steals and blocks.

Burrows, whose team is being coached by Jeffery Hendfield and his father James Burrows, said they wanted to make a statement early in the tournament that will run for the next few weeks with teams from the United States playing against local teams.

“It’s awesome. We opened up last year with the win and we had aspirations to come out again this year and set the tone for the rest of the Bahamian teams,” Burrows said.

“We want the college teams to know that when they come here, they will be tested and not push us over. So I feel we have put together a very versatile roster of professional, college and high school players.”

Despite the fact that he and Bridgewater will be leaving this week for the Bahamas training camp in Puerto Rico from August 4-10 before they head over to Argentina for the Pre-Olympic Qualifier from August 14-20, Burrows said he always dreamed about competing at the Olympics.

“When I didn’t get that opportunity to run track in the Olympics, I never thought that we would have a realistic chance in my lifetime to do it in basketball,” said Burrows, now considered the elder statesman of the team that will include four NBA players DeAndre Ayton, Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield, Kai Jones and now Eric Gordon, of Bahamian descent.

“But shoutout to LJ Rose (team manager), Moses Johnson (assistant coach) and all the other guys behind the scene that put in the work to get this type of workforce to represent the country.”

Coming in as a leader, Burrows said this is a very solid team on paper, but the job for coach Chris DeMarco and his staff is to make it a cohesive team coming out of their training camp in Puerto Rico where they will play a few scrimmage games.

“In that short amount of time, we have put together a team that can be a contender for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France,” Burrows said. “With this being our 50th year of our Independence, it’s exciting for what we are calling the ‘Bahamian Dream Team.’

“It’s exciting. It’s great for the culture, it’s a great inspiration for the kids and it’s powerful for a nation to see that we are coming together with our best to be one of the top teams in the world.”

Only time will tell how well they can gel together and get the job done. It’s just about going out there and showing it,” Burrows said. “Hopefully we can get through this qualifying round and get to the big stage. That is the dream. We just hope to make it a reality.”

Meanwhile, while the men’s national team is heading off, the Summer of Thunder Tournament continues today at 6pm when the Virginia Military will be back in action against the Pirates.

Raw Talent, without the services of Burrows and Bridgewater, will take on Creighton University, which includes Bahamian Frederick King in the feature game on Friday at 6 pm at Atlantis.

Additionally, at 2 pm, BC Zalgiris Kaunas are slated to play the University of South Carolina.