The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the ladies and men’s collegiate teams are in New Providence for the various basketball tournaments, Grand Bahama will showcase a number of visiting high school senior boys’ teams over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The Tabernacle Baptist Academy/Dale Burns Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament, now in its 23rd year, will feature three high school teams from Grand Bahama against five visiting teams from the United States.

The tournament will start on Wednesday and run through Saturday at St George’s High Gymnasium and, according to Norris Bain, the deputy director of sports in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the event will give the island an economic boost this weekend.

“We have the number one ranked school out of Georgia in Colombia High and the fifth ranked out of Georgia in 6A in Jonesboro,” Bain said. “They are two highly-ranked schools. We will also have a very good team in Oakridge High out of Tennessee.

“So we will have some very good high school basketball competition here in Grand Bahama, while they have the college teams playing in New Providence.”

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is partnering with Tabernacle Baptist to sponsor the tournament, which is expected to attract over 100 fans from the various schools coming in.

With the three local teams participating, Bain said they anticipate that the fans will have an exciting four days of competition as the island tries to reclaim the title as the sporting capital of the Bahamas.

“This will be a good test for the teams in Grand Bahama to see where they are because they will have some nationally ranked teams to compete against. This will also give the coaches the opportunity to match their skills against their American counterparts.”

Bain, a former coach of Tabernacle and the men’s national team, said through the tournament, they hope that a few more players from Grand Bahama will be able to obtain athletic scholarships to attend colleges and universities in the United States.

“This is a good opportunity for our boys to perform in front of some high level coaches and scouts, who are also expected to be in town to view the tournament,” Bain said.

At the same time, Bain encouraged the residents of Grand Bahama to come out as they usually do to support the tournament and at the same time get to view some high level competition from the high school level.

Stacked in pool A are Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons and St George’s Jaguars against visiting teams Columbus High and Lakeside High, both out of Georgia.

In pool B are the Sunland Lutheran Stingers against the visiting Oakridge High out of Tennessee and both SouthWest Dekalb and Jonesboro High out of Georgia.

Here’s a look at the schedule of games on tap:

Wednesday’s schedule

3:30 pm Jonesboro vs SouthWest Dekalb.

4:30 pm Columbia vs St George’s.

5:230 pm Tabernacle Baptist vs Lakeside.

6:30 pm Oakridge vs Sunland Baptist.

Thursday’s schedule

3:30 pm Jonesboro vs Oakridge.

4:30 pm SouthWest Dekalb vs Sunland Baptist.

5:30 pm St George’s vs Tabernacle Baptist.

6:30 pm Columbia vs Lakeside.

Friday’s schedule

3:30 pm Oakridge vs SouthWest Dekalb.

4:30 pm Sunland Baptist vs Jonesboro.

5:30 pm Tabernacle Baptist vs Columbia.

6:30 pm Lakeside vs St. George’s.

Saturday’s schedule

10 am Semifinals.

11:30 am Semifinals.

5 pm Third place consolation.

6 pm Championship game.