SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016
NFL PICKS
Week 10, Pages 2 & 3
BAISS championships all set after sudden death playoffs By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) championship series are all set after the sudden death playoffs concluded at the Freedom Farm baseball complex in Yamacraw last night. In the senior boys’ matchup, the CW Saunders Cougars advanced in thrilling fashion with an 1817 win over the Queen’s College Comets. Natt Ferguson came in to pinch hit with the score tied in the bottom of the seventh inning and his sacrifice fly drove in the gamewinning run. Jason Wood was a force at the plate for the Cougars and went 3-3 on the night, including a grand
slam and eight RBI. The Cougars built a 14-6 lead before the Comets’ late surge. With eight unanswered runs, QC would eventually tie the game at 14 in the bottom of the sixth inning, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. The Comets plated three runs in the top of the seventh inning for their first lead of the game and took a 17-14 advantage into the bottom half. In their turn at bat, the Cougars drew several walks and, with the bases loaded, Vanhusen Woods blasted a three RBI triple to tie the score and set the stage for Ferguson’s heroics. They will advance to face the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine in the championship series. “This one really means a lot to me. I’ve been at CWS for five
years and every year we would make the playoffs and get put out early,” said Cougars pitcher Kawan Dames. “We just need to work on our hitting and our defence ahead of next game.” In the junior boys’ division, the NCA Crusaders advanced yesterday with a 6-3 win over the Comets. They will advance to face SAC in the final after they defeated the CW Saunders on Tuesday afternoon. “This one was really special for us because it’s the first time in the school’s history that the junior boys have made it to the championship,” said Crusaders coach Richard Wilson. “We went 5-1 on the season, and we had an okay game against SAC, so we’re optimistic. We just have to come in focused and lock in for the final game.”
The Comets finally got a muchneeded win in the junior girls’ division when they advanced to the championship series with an 11-10 win over the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine in come from behind fashion. Trailing 10-9 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Comets scored two runs, capped by Carnitra Mackey’s RBI single. They will face the CW Saunders Cougars in the final. “It’s a great feeling being able to move on to the next round,” said Comets coach Sandrea Holmes. “Our goal was to make it to the championship round, and now we have to take it one game at a time.” The win ensured the Big Red Machine would be unable to repeat their feat of sweeping championship titles in all four divisions
Buddy scores 14 in loss to Kings ROOKIE guard Buddy Hield had 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Sacramento Kings defeated the winless New Orleans Pelicans 10294 on Tuesday night. “I’m not use to this at all. But it’s a long season,” Hield said. Hield struggled in the first half, missing his first four shots and had two first-half points. “We just have to stay confident. We’re 0-8 right now, but we’re going to find a way and we are going to break through this. We have a lot of games left. All we need is a win to build our confidence up.” Anthony Davis had 34 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Pelicans, who have started the season with eight straight losses, matching the 2004-05 team for the worst start in franchise history. It’s been a miserable start to the season for New Orleans, which is without three starters - Jrue Holiday (personal reasons), Tyreke Evans (right knee) and Quincy Poindexter (left knee). “We just have to play better. There’s just no way of getting around it,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “The effort is good and I talked to the guys about the fact that I love the way we are playing hard. But we all have to play smart. In some cases we are not playing smart.” After Hield scored six straight points to pull the Pelicans within five, Afflalo hit a 3 and was fouled. He made the free throw, completing a four-point play and giving the Kings a 97-88 lead with 45 seconds left. Despite 14 points from Davis, the Pelicans could not cut into the Kings’ lead and still trailed 7670 entering the fourth. The Pelicans finish a three-game trip today in Milwaukee.
BUDDY HIELD watches as Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay shoots a free throw during the closing moments of Tuesday night’s game in Sacramento, California. The Kings won 102-94. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
for the fourth consecutive year. In the senior girls’ matchup, the St Anne’s Blue Waves advanced with a 7-5 win. They will advance to face the Big Red Machine in the final. “This win really feels good. We haven’t been to a title game since year before last and now we have to play strong in the final game,” said St Anne’s head coach Chercovie Wells. “Ahead of Monday’s game, we want to tighten up our defence on the infield and focus on a few other minor details.” Game one in all four divisions is scheduled to be played on Monday, November 14, followed by game twos on Wednesday, November 16 and third and deciding games if necessary on Thursday, November 17 – all at Freedom Farm.
SWIFT TO HOST OPEN WATER SWIM RACE AT PALM CAY FOR the third consecutive year, Swift will be hosting its open water swim race at the Palm Cay site. It has proved to be an ideal location with a beach and shallow water stretching for miles. The open water event is being sponsored by Palm Cay, Subway, Higgs & Johnson, Deloitte and Australian Gold. Another unique attraction for the open water race is that the Bahamas Swimming Federation has set tougher standards for those who would like to represent the Bahamas in open water swimming. Swimmers will have to compete in two open water races a year and will be required to make a qualifying time standard for the regional meets like CARIFTA and CCCAN. This year’s event will be more popular since the Bahamas is hosting the Youth Commonwealth Games in July, 2017. Event organisers anticipate that most of the local clubs, including Freeport and Abaco, will be represented and that we will see some great competition that will result in swimmers qualifying for CARIFTA and CCCAN and going on to represent the Bahamas well next year. The age groups are 10-and-under, 11-12, 13-19, 20-49, and 50-and-over. There are three courses, 800 metres for 10 and unders and a 1.6k course for all 11 and older age groups, and the 5k course for the 12-and-older age groups.
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Danrad addresses his role as emerging leader for Cougars By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net HEADED into his senior year, Danrad Knowles was one of the team leaders to address issues surrounding the Houston Cougars men’s basketball programme on media day. Knowles, who averaged six points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a junior last season, addressed everything from the changes in this year’s squad to strength of schedule to his role as an emerging leader. “It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve developed over time, and that’s a big plus. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we’re going to get
there,” Knowles said. to lead the younger “[Learning from players. head coach Calvin The Cougars have Sampson] It’s been a strong non-conferhard, but all you’ve to ence schedule includdo is take it and learn ing SEC matchups from it. Just suck it up. against Arkansas and There’s not much you LSU. can do but listen and “It’s going to be a learn. He’s made me test. We’ve got to win more mentally tough the games first, so I’ll and intense. Hopefully let you know when you don’t see me spaz we win the games. If on the court. It’s going we win the games, to be a fun season.” it’ll be a big help to The Cougars are reus. It’ll boost us a lot KNOWLES turning eight players more and give us a from last season, three of whom better résumé. For us to test ourstarted at least 20 games. Five of selves and see where we are at ofthe eight are seniors who will use fensively and defensively because their past experience on the team (Rhode Island) beat us last year
at their place. Plus, they’re top 25 team this year, so it’s going to be a good test for us to see where we’re at,” he said. “We can’t be losing at home. We have to go out with a bang and this is my last season too. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. [The crowd at home, it’s a lot. It’s like the sixth man for us. We can feel their energy on the floor. We need the fans’ support, but we also need to win to increase the fan support. Most of the time it has been just our families, the band and the cheerleaders supporting us. We’d really like the fan support to bring that energy and intensity for us. It’s a big deal.” The Cougars will begin their season on November 11 against
Morgan State. They finished last season with a 22-8 win/loss record. Despite the fact the Cougars were solid throughout the regular season, they suffered a disappointing 81-62 loss to Georgia Tech in the first round of the NIT tournament. “It gives us confidence, but it’s also a new season. We have to step up more and improve. We need to keep winning those big games so we can expand more,” he said. “I’ve just tried to help [my teammates] when they’re down. You’re going to get down sometimes. I want to lift my teammates up when they are down and help them any way I can. Keep your head up. Don’t get too high or too low.”