SAND DOLLAR HIGH FLYERS EVEN THE SERIES 1-1

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a tough loss to the Leno Regulators last week Thursday, the Sand Dollar Imports High Flyers evened the series 1-1 in a 86-63 blowout win.

The High Flyers were locked in from the game’s opening tip as they jumped out to a seven-point lead early on and never looked back. At the end of the second quarter, the High Flyers wrapped up the first half with the score 42-28.

The Sand Dollar lead only got bigger in the second half as the team’s leading scorer Enrico Bethel splashed five threepointers on the night while shooting a perfect 5/5 from the field.

Bethel talked about how it felt to come out and tie the series 1-1.

“It was a must win so I have mixed feelings, we have to win one more so I cannot really be emotional right now,” Bethel said.

Despite his reluctance to celebrate prematurely, Bethel added that in game three they have to win it all by playing together, and playing good defence.

He was not the only High Flyer that made great impacts in the game.

Dave Davis and Van Hutchinson both came out the night’s matchup with double doubles. Davis scored 16 points to go with 15 boards and Hutchinson poured in 15 points to pair with 16 rebounds in the game. The two combined for half (31) of the team’s 62-rebound total.

South Carolina, won the men’s 1,500m in 3:54.80 ahead of Arizona’s Iker Sanchez Lopez and Cooper Quigley, who had to settle for second and third respectively in 3:55,15 and 3:56.97.

“I love it. I love the culture and the music. It made me feel like I was home,” said Amaral, who noted that his trip here was wonderful.

“With this crowd cheering all of us on, I just wanted to go out there and put on a show for them. None of the guys wanted to make a move, so I waited for the final stretch, which is something I like to do in Arizona.”

And all the way from Germany, another South Carolina representative Svenja Sommer took the women’s 1,500m in a sprint as well in 4:35.25, well ahead of Sailor Hutton of Arizona, who did 4:36.81 for second. Gabi Barrara of Oklahoma was third in 4:40.38. “I love it. It was always my dream to come here. I love the weather, I love the beach and everything here,” said Sommer, who had to display a little bit of tactics to win her race. “Nobody wanted to take the lead in my race, but after my team-mate did, I was glad that I had a little bit of power left. Now that I am finished, I can enjoy the rest of my time here.”

And while there was a clean sweep by Arizona in the women’s high jump, Tallie Bonds and Alexa Porpaczy Arizona matched the same height of 5-feet, 10 ½ -inches or 1.79m to share the victory with Emma Gates take third with 5-7, 1.70m.

Bonds said they all have had “so much fun here with their beach day and training” that she “never wants to leave.”

But she said despite all of the distractions, she performed as best as she could, but she will never “forget this experience. This was one of my best ones, so I’m sure I will be back.”

Marvin Henfield, who helped organise the meet, called it an “amazingly successful event.”

While the meet was originally scheduled for 2021 to help bring some economy to Grand Bahama in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, he said he’s glad that they finally got it off the ground two years after the shutdown by COVID19. “There’s so much I’ve learnt this weekend,” said Henfield, one of the country’s top basketball trainers. “Track and field is new to me, but there’s so much that I learned in the planning of this event over the past four years.”

Henfield said they already have 12 verbal commitments for next year with the numbers expecting to double, but he’s not sure if he’s ready to take on that many. He just wants to see where it goes because Grand Bahama pulled out all the stops to make it happen. “If there’s one word I can describe this experience here, it’s ‘hungry.’ The people here are hungry and ready to get back to work and to be gainfully employed. So we’re happy that we were able to bring a little of that to the economy here.”

Not only did the fans, who showed up in great numbers, get to watch the visiting athletes compete against some of the members of the University of the Bahamas, they also got to see their own local high school athletes in action as many of them are preparing to travel to New Providence this weekend for the joint National High School Championships and final CARIFTA trials.

• Here’s a look at the top three finishers in the events contested during the meet:

100m – Camryn Dickson, Texas A&M, 11.81; Neysia Howard, Arizona, 11.96; Mikayla Hayes, Oklahoma, 12.14.

Women’s 200m – JaylaJa Jamison, South Carolina, 23.28; Jermaisha Arnold, Texas A&M, 23.38; Charokee Young, Unat-Texas A&M, 23.57.

Women’s 400m – Jania Martin, Texas A&M, 52.56; Jahnile Registre, South Carolina, 53.28; Aallliyah Francis, South Carolina, 53.29.

800m – Sylvia Chelangat, South Carolina, 2:05.99; Alisa Lyesina, Arizona, 2:06.02; Yazmine Wright, Oklahoma, 2:08.12.

Women’s 1,500m –Svenja Sommer, South Carolina, 4:35.25; Sailor Hutton, Arizona, 4:36.81; Gabi Barrara, Oklahoma, 4:40.38.

The High Flyers dominated the Regulators in the paint 48 to 32. They also had 17 points off turnovers compared to the 11 from the other team. The team also got out and ran as they were able to notch 14 quick points on the fast break.

Meanwhile, the Regulators only had eight in the night’s matchup.

During the game, the High Flyers were up by as much as 25 points in efforts to fight another night in the NPBA playoffs.

Donnie Culmer, head coach of the Sand Dollar Imports High Flyers, talked about what helped his team to come out with a win.

“We have been here before, we are battle tested and the first game our shots didn’t drop and we didn’t execute but the guys are more focused now,” Culmer said.

Although Culmer did not reveal the specific game plan of his team, he said his team executed their game plan perfectly on the night and will look to come out and do the same thing today.

The Leno Regulators will look to make things difficult for their opponents as the two face off 8:30pm tonight at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium in a win-or-go-home game.