Sports

G.S.S.S.A. Championships Begin at Kendal Isaacs Gym

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The G.S.S.S.A. Basketball Championship series tipped off Tuesday night at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and while the top seeds won out in the juniors, the lower seeds took control at the senior level.

Published

1 month ago

February 12, 2025

10th Year Seniors

Both D.W. Davis Royals junior teams, the C.V. Bethel Stingrays senior girls and the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves senior boys all took game one in their respective series.

The junior girls game was a showdown between two of the top scorers in the league – Tahjanique Morley of the C.H. Reeves Raptors and Makia Bowles of the Royals.

Morley scored a game high 31 but Bowles had 30 and the royals came away with the 36-34 win.

The same two teams faced off in junior boys play, but it wasn’t nearly as close.

D.W. Davis took game one 71-45.

Joevardo Wright led the Royals with 24 points, Ednel Pierre scored 18 and Breon Poitier finished with 15.

Devante Crawl scored 17 for the Raptors and Michael Mackey had 15.

In senior boys – the C.I. Gibson Rattlers had no answer for the T’wolves duo of Derek Francis on the perimeter and Paulston Stuart in the paint.

Francis scored a game high 27 points, including five threes in the T’wolves 67-62 win.

Stuart finished with 15 points.

Mario Rolle led the Rattlers in double figures with 19, Darius Hanna scored 17 and Condae Smith added 10.

In senior girls – Ricadra Beadle led the third seeded stingrays to a 37-31 win over the rattlers.

Beadle scored a game high 29 points, 13 in the first quarter, and also made five three pointers on the night.

Porhianna Farrington led the Rattlers with 11 points.

Game two in each series will be Friday at 4pm at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, The Bahamas Basketball Federation announced the preliminary roster for the senior men’s national team as they prepare for the third and final window of the Americup qualifiers.

The preliminary roster includes 19 players led by national team veterans and others looking to make their national team debut.

Frontcourt players include – Kino Burrows, Kentwan Smith, David Nesbitt, Tavario Miller, Kadeem Coleby, Sammy Hunter, Lathaniel Bastian, Danrad Knowles, Aaron Levarity, and Kenny Isnord.

Backcourt players include – Franco Miller, Travis Munnings, Dominick Bridgewater, Garvin Clarke, Rashad Davis , Qyemah Gibson, Rron Gordon, Dylan Musgrove, and Godfrey Rolle III.

The final roster of 12 players will be released Thursday.

The team is scheduled to continue play in group d against Cuba on Thursday, February 20 at 8:40 pm.

In game two, The Bahamas will face the United States, Sunday, February 23 at 7:10 pm.

Both games will be hosted at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Bahamas heads into the final window with a 1-3 win loss record.

Their lone win of The qualifiers was an 88-77 win over Puerto Rico in the first window.

The USA leads group d at 3-1, followed by Puerto Rico at 2-2, and Cuba third – also at 2-2.

Only the top three teams in group d will advance to the FIBA Americup to be hosted in Managua, Nicaragua in August.

NBA

Just when Deandre Ayton and the Portland Trailblazers started to turn things, the injury bug reared its ugly head once again.

Ayton suffered a non-contact injury in the third quarter and required assistance walking back to the locker room.

He finished the game with 10 points on 5-9 shooting and one block in 19 minutes of the Blazers’ 146-117 loss to the Denver Nuggets Monday night at the Pepsi Center in Colorado.

The blazers diagnosed Ayton with a left calf injury and plan to update his status after further testing.

Portland was one of the hottest teams in the league and won 9 of their last 10 dating back to January 19 – but have now lost their last two games on the road.

Ayton is averaging 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season.