SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017
FORMER SPRINTER DEMERITTE: IT’S TIME TO CHANGE OUR PHILOSOPHY PAGE E3 BAHAMAS forward Shaian James drives to the basket against her Suriname defender.
JUSTIN ROBERTS REFLECTS ON PRO CIRCUIT EXPERIENCE By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net AFTER spending the majority of his summer playing in professional tennis tournaments in Europe, Justin Roberts was glad to take ten days off to relax and recuperate with good home cooked meals before heading back to school for his senior year. On Friday, Roberts will be returning to the University of South Florida to begin his senior year. But he said the experience he gained on the pro circuit will definitely help to propel his game to the next level. “I played about seven tournaments in the summer, so I had to take some time of to let my body fully recover and let my mind rest,” he said. “Since Monday, I’ve been back training in a full regimen at Albany.” Of the seven tournaments he participated in, Roberts said the last one in Finland turned out to be his best, as he made it to the quarter-final of the men’s singles, beating the number 11th ranked player in NCAA from Stanford, American Tom Fawcett, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. In the first round, he also ousted the No.6 seeded player Louis Chaix from France 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 before he lost to Jonathan Mridha, 6-4, 6-1 in the quarters. Mridha was the eventual runner-up of the tournament. Roberts, who played two two tournaments in Spain, three in Portugal and another in Belgium, said his appearance in Finland was his best production and gave him a lot of incentive to go back to school. “I had a good end of the season in college and I expected that to continue this summer, but I got injured at the end of the college season and so I had to take some out to recuperate,” he recalled. “I didn’t really pick up where I left off. I had some really rough weeks, but I finished with a pretty good showing at the end. “It wasn’t what I expected, but with the time out that I had during the summer, I’m glad the way I fought through it. It was a summer full of good learning experiences for me.” In those tournaments, Roberts also played in a few doubles, but the results were not as good as he expected either, making a few quarter-finals and losing in the first round in another. At the end of the tour, Roberts has pushed his ATP points total to five and is now ranked at 12, the highest by any Bahamian. As a matter of fact, he’s the only Bahamian with any ATP points. “I feel good. I’m beating better players than I beat last year,” he said. “My fitness level is better and my tennis is much better. I’m progressing very well, which is good. I just have to keep on going.” The stop home for Roberts gave him an opportunity to “slow down my SEE PAGE E3
Bahamas bounces back with win over Suriname By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net AFTER losing the opening game of the FIBA U17 Centrobasket Championship for Women 53-39 to Costa Rica, the Bahamas bounced back on Thursday to take their frustration out on Suriname with a 8669 rout. Leading from start to finish, the Bahamas had four players in double figures as forward Valicia Demeritte led the attack by scoring a game high 20 points on 9-for-17 from the field and 2-for6 from the free throw line in 34 minutes and 43 seconds. She also had eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Guard Alana Pinder, in a team-leading 36:45 minutes, was next with 17 points, hitting with 3-for-6 shots from the field and behind the three-point arch and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, to
FIBA U17 Centrobasket Championship in Puerto Rico go along with six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Team captain Tanea Bowleg, in 30:15 minutes, also had 7 points on 5-for-12 from the field, 2-for-7 from the three-point line and 5-for-6 from the foul line. Centre Brionte Riley, playing 21:36 minutes, contributed 12 points with 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists. All but two of the Bahamian players, scored in the game. Centre Ulrica Butler had eight points, three rebounds and two steals and centre Michell Butler had six points and five rebounds. The Bahamas, coached by Varel Davis and assisted by Terrarance ‘Red Eye’ McSweeney and Deven Johnson, opened an impressive 22-9 lead at the end
of the first quarter. By the half, Suriname cut the deficit to single digits as they trailed 43-35. Both teams scored 22 points in the third as the Bahamas stayed ahead 65-57. But, on a 21-14 spurt in the fourth, the Bahamas coasted to the win. Suriname also had four players in double figures with captain Jolaine Nijman scoring 17 points with four rebounds and three steals. The Bahamas led in all of the shooting categories, except for three-point, which saw both teams shoot 40 per cent. Surinam had a 28-15 advantage on the offensive rebounding, but the Bahamas made up the difference with a 37-23 edge on the defensive end for a total of 52-41 total.
BAHAMAS guard Alana Pinder dribbles around a Suriname defender. A 20-16 margin put the Bahamas ahead in assists, but Suriname had 28-35 difference in turnovers, 22-16 in steals and 2-1 in block shots. The Bahamas, however, committed 25 fouls compared to just 19 by their opponents. SEE PAGE E2
TERAY SMITH: I WANT TO BE IN A FINAL
Sprinter to begin professional training in Jamaica
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net NOW that his collegiate career is over, sprinter Teray Smith has decided to begin his professional training in Kingston, Jamaica. As of September, before he celebrates his birthday on the 28th of that month, Smith will be the first Bahamian male sprinter to move to Jamaica where he will join the Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) Track Club, headed by Stevie Francis, the coach of Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell and new mom Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. In June, Smith graduated from Auburn University where he was coached by Bahamian assistant coach Henry Rolle. But he admitted at the 16th IAAF World Championships in London, England that he wants to get to the next level as a potential contender in the men’s sprints and Jamaica is the ideal place to hone his skills. “I know it was a long college season for me, so I just wanted to come here and give it my all, which I do every time I step on the track,” Smith said. “But I
TERAY SMITH (right) with his men’s 4 x 100m teammates Warren Fraser, Shavez Hart and Sean Stuart at the World Championships. hate coming out here and getting embarrassed. Every time we come out here we get embarrassed. “I don’t just want to make the team anymore. I want to do something. I want to be in a final. I don’t want to go to the nationals, do well there and then come here to these games and don’t go anywhere. I want to make it to the next round. I’m just tired of us not doing anything.” Smith, 22, qualified to compete in the men’s 200 metres at the World Cham-
pionships where he failed to advance out of the qualifying round, finishing fifth in his heat in 20.77 seconds for 34th overall, which excluded him from the top 24 that advanced to the semifinal. A couple days later, he ran the anchor leg of the men’s 4 x 100m relay team that included Warren Fraser, Shavez Hart and newcomer Sean Stuart. However, the quartet’s seventh place was wiped off the books as they were disqualified on the exchange
between Hart and Stuart. With the wealth of experience that he gained running for Auburn, Smith was hoping that the men’s team would garner some success – as the men’s 4 x 400m team did in the past by getting into the final. “I just hope everybody sees the same vision that I see and just gives it their all,” Smith proclaimed. “This is serious. It’s really frustrating for me. I can’t take this anymore. It’s just too embarrassing for me.” For his part, both indi-
vidually and as a member of the relay team, Smith said he’s going to make the necessary sacrifice to get some professional training in Jamaica. “It’s a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice,” he stressed. “I want to be great, so I have to do it. I’m looking forward to it.” The Grand Bahamian, sponsored by Puma, said he’s hoping that the change in environment, among some of the best sprinters SEE PAGE E3