By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net    

TEAMS hailing from both Grand Bahama and the Family Islands made their arrival to the capital on day three of the 41st Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic to tip-off their tournament experience on a high note in the morning session yesterday at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

The Gateway Christian Academy Eagles had a sluggish start to their game against the Eight Mile Rock Blue Jays but managed to pull off their first win of the tournament, 45-28.

The Agape Christian Academy Eagles, the Abaco Schools Sports Association (ASSSA) champions, earned a comfortable 52-17 victory in a wire-to-wire win against the Bishop Michael Eldon School (BMES) Warriors. And The Sherlin C Bootle Dynamic Dolphins prevailed over the South Andros Barracudas 61-55.

In the first game of the day, the Patrick J Bethel Mighty Marlins knocked off the CR Walker Knights 56-42.

The St John’s College Giants, the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) reigning champions, pummeled the Kingsway Academy Saints 58-38 to close out the morning session. Gateway Christian Academy vs Eight Mile Rock.

The Eagles suffered some jetlag in the early moments of their game against the Blue Jays. Despite a slow start in the opening quarter, the team started to create some separation in the second period.

Shanto Curry Jr connected on a jumper that drove the lead to 10 (19-9) just before the halftime break.

The Eagles were on top 21-10 at the intermission until the Blue Jays went on a run in the third period.

Eight Mile Rock’s Jermaine Hall connected on back-to-back threes to pull the Blue Jays within two (24-22) at the 2:31 mark.

The Blue Jays outscored their opponents 14-7 in the third period to trail by just four (28-24) with one to go.

The Eagles flipped the switch on offence in the final quarter. Romeris Stuart finished a crowd pleasing lob that ignited an 11-0 run to end the game for Gateway Christian Academy. 

Javardo Toote pitched in a team-high 15 points and two boards in the Eagles’ victory.

Eagles head coach Gilbert Rolle spoke about what went right for his team down the stretch.

“We traveled today and just came in this morning and the games pushed back so we started a little shaky. In the second half, we kind of played Eagles basketball with our identity. We were able to settle down and then we were able to extend the lead,” he said.

Coach Rolle outlined the team’s expectations for the rest of the way.

“The goal is to win one game at a time. We accomplished that first goal in the first game and now we want to take it from here,” he said.

Hall led the Blue Jays in scoring with 15 points to pair with two boards in the loss.

Agape Christian Academy vs BMES

The ASSA champions were fearless against the Warriors 

The team demoralised BMES from the opening tip with a 12-6 run to start the quarter before running ahead 22-8 going into the second period of play.

The Warriors converted on a jumper to cut into the deficit 26-14 late in the second quarter but it was not enough to slow down the soaring Eagles.

Agape extended the lead 40-15 to wrap up three quarters of play with a crafty layup in the open court.

Their biggest lead of the game was 35 (52-17) in the fourth quarter.

Corey Roberts led all scorers with 12 points and two steals for the Eagles.

Eagles head coach Stephan Johnson was quite pleased with the way his team performed in their tournament opener.

“The boys came out and played really well. The defence was good, offence was good, we shared the ball and everyone played their roles. We are excited to see what the rest of the tournament holds but I would say we played very well in this first game,” he said.

Coach Johnson added that the goal is to take the tournament one game at a time.

“We are gonna go and get some rest. We have St George’s next. We have the number six and number two team in the country in our pool so we are gonna take it one game at a time,” he said.

Liam Carroll scored a team-high 5 points and pulled in seven rebounds for the Warriors.

Day four of the 41st Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic continues at 10am today at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.