SPORTS SECTION E
BASKETBALL
Eagles victorious, Pg 2
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: Jordan Prince William Lady Falcons routed Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins 52-30 last night to win the national basketball title. Photo: 10thYearSeniors
National champions By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
Lady Falcons rout Mystic Marlins 52-30 to win title
commitment that began long before the offseason was the driving force behind an historic season for the Jordan Prince William Lady Falcons basketball programme, and it culminated with a national title. The Lady Falcons routed the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins 5230 in the championship game at the St George’s Gym in Freeport, Grand Bahama, last night. Terell Cox delivered an MVP performance with 16 points and eight rebounds, Shaniqua Thompson scored nine while Kristenique Moss and Judy Forbes each scored eight. Tanea Bowleg led the Mystic Marlins with 14 points and Briontae Riley scored nine and grabbed a game high 15 rebounds. The BAISS champions Falcons
played perhaps their best game of the season, according to head coach Terrence McSweeney. “I want to thank God for bringing us here to cap off my third season with this programme in this way. This shows you what BAISS has been doing over the years but in particular what we have been doing with the Lady Falcons, home of the Dirty Birds. We really worked this year,” he said. “The top players on Doris Johnson, they came through us so we knew their mindset. They beat us earlier in this tournament by three points, they beat us in the Geneva Rutherford tournament by three points, I told them we have to beat this team to prove a point to them.” With the bulk of his team returning next season, McSweeney
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looks for the “Dirty Birds” to contend once again. “We are only graduating two seniors. The rest of the girls will be back as underclassmen. We played a young lady in seventh grade today and she was able to make a contribution and that is just an example of what the Falcons programme is doing,” He said. Thompson scored the first basket of the game on an out of bounds set play and Robynn Porter scored on a turnaround on the next possession to take an early 4-0 lead. The Falcons went ahead 7-1 before the Mystic Marlins made their first field goal - a three pointer from Bowleg. The Falcons took an early 11-6 after the first. The Mystic Marlins played from
behind throughout the second, but another Bowleg score made it 13-9. Cox made a late three pointer to put the Falcons up nine, but Bowleg was able to answer on the next possession with her three pointer as time expired. The Mystic Marlins took a 20-14 lead into the half. Doris Johnson scored on the opening possession of the second half and Kovanique Rolle’s layup reduced it to just two before Cox responded with another corner three. Cox was fouled on a threepoint attempt on the next possession and made all three free throws to push the lead to eight (26-18). Thompson scored again to give her team a 30-20 lead with 3:46 left to play in the third and the Falcons took a 36-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons offence continued to click on all cylinders in the fourth quarter and went ahead by as much as 16 at one point. Moss was a force on the defensive glass all game long for the Falcons. Her rebound, put back and converted three-point play gave her team a 46-30 lead with 2:47 left to play in regulation. Mystic Marlins head coach Kevon Spence said it was a heartbreaking loss for his team who looked to conclude a second consecutive season with a sweep of the marquee events. “Well I know nothing will console them at this time. They worked all season for this and it’s just hard to take a loss at this time knowing that we won many games before just to come and lose at the big one,” he said.
JAGUARS TOP TABERNACLE FALCONS 61-53 TO CLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net AFTER falling short in the inaugural title game, the St George’s Jaguars protected home court in 2017 and brought the national championship to Jaguar country. The Jaguars claimed the National High School Division I basketball championship with a 61-53 win over the Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons at the St George’s Gymnasium in Freeport, Grand Bahama. In the GBSSSA championship series, the Jaguars were without Howard Hinzey as they lost the bestof-three series to the Falcons less than a month ago. This time around, in the national title game, Hinzey was the difference down the stretch for the Jaguars. He finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in an MVP performance. “It feels very good. Last year we made the finals and we came up short, this year we trusted the process, we did what our coaches said and it turned out successful for us,” he said. “I was very upset I couldn’t be there for my team in the league championships so I was obsessed with getting better for na-
tionals. My mom could tell you, everyday I was running, putting in that work running 3.4 miles every morning because I wanted to come out here and make a difference.” After completing his high school career on the highest note possible, Hinzey is prepared to take his game to the next level. “I plan on heading to Pensacola State College,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting my chance to make it off this island and once I do, making the most of my opportunity.” Hinzey’s frontcourt mate Ahmard Harvey finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, Kyle Smith scored 16 and Kingcy Thompson added 12. Desmond Butler led the Falcons with 12 points, Seandre Todd scored 11 and Deangelo Regis Cooper scored nine. Almost immediately, you saw it was a different St George’s team with both Harvey and Hinzey in the lineup. The Jaguars took an early 7-5 lead on a Smith jumper and Thompson’s three from the wing put them up 10-5. Franco Miller dished an assist to Shyrone Kemp to come within one (13-12) and the Jaguars took that lead at the end of the first. Thompson had a steal
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Howard Hinzey does the honours of taking down the nets. Photo: 10thYearSeniors and fast break layup and was the most active player on the floor for the Jaguars since he checked in. A three from Butler cut the lead to just three (22-19) with 2:37 left to play in the first half. Alfredo Brown scored a basket but came up hobbled and managed to stay in the game with his team down just two. Smith would drive the lane for a three-point play and take a 26-21 lead before a tip in from Todd
ended the half. The Jaguars led 26-23 at intermission. In the third quarter, the Falcons’ Alfredo Brown’s drive to the basket cut the lead to two, but it was Smith again with another big shot - a three from the wing to make the score 32-27. Smith followed with another three pointer on the very next trip up the floor to give the Jaguars an eight-point lead. Jaguars point guard Davonte Jennings, who fin-
ished with six points and six assists, made a successful trip to the line and made the lead 10 before his layup pushed it to 12 on the next possession. The Falcons went on a 6-0 run capped by a Butler layup for a 4236 deficit, but the Jaguars were able to maintain the six-point advantage to head into the fourth on top 4640. Harvey started the fourth with a runner, answered
immediately by a Falcons three pointer. Like he had all game long, Smith was there with the answer, tipping in his own missed shot to answer the Falcons score. Hinzey’s post move gave the Jags an eight-point lead with 1:38 left to play, and his block on the defensive end sent the Jaguar faithful into a frenzy. Jaguars head coach Darell Sears said an early tournament loss to the Sunland Stingers was the wake up call his team needed to avenge the 2016 national title loss. “To God be the glory great things He has done. We lost early and it was a blessing in disguise,” he said, “because we played more games than Tabernacle and it allowed us to fix some things. We went through some bumps and bruises but we saw growth and we were confident that once we came in and did what we saw that we were doing in the other games we put it all together we would win the game. “All the guys did well. We had some little issues here and again like any other team but I’m so happy for Kingcy Thompson. He got hurt last year (in the championship game) and he came back and he played so well this year but the whole team did well.”