Home|Sports|Cooper meets with Miami Dolphins and Orlando MagicSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 14, 2022 339 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Bahamas has attracted many sporting events and teams near and far over the years, and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper and his team traveled to Florida and met with executives of the professional sporting teams, the Miami Dolphins and Orlando Magic late last week.

The Dolphins play in the National Football League (NFL) and is a favorite team of many Bahamian NFL fans. The Magic plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and though the team does not have a huge Bahamian fan base like the Dolphins, it still has Bahamian supporters cheering it on.

Cooper said that they are hoping to use those teams’ large reach to help promote the islands.

“We have met with some of the major sporting teams – the Magic and the Dolphins,” Cooper said. “We expect that we will continue these types of partnerships. They have a very large reach. As you know, these are beloved teams in The Bahamas, especially the Dolphins. I expect that through the course of this ongoing partnership, we will be able to find synergies. We will do joint promotions, will be able to access their databases and certainly we will be able to promote the islands of The Bahamas and Florida.”

Cooper knows that The Bahamas has had relationships with these teams in the past and will look to renew those opportunities.

Creating partnerships with sporting teams and events is one of the plans that Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg said his ministry has dubbed “Sports in Paradise”.

There are already several sporting events and teams coming to The Bahamas. There are the popular Battle 4 Atlantis collegiate basketball tournament, Baha Mar Hoops college basketball tournament, Junkanoo Jam college basketball tournament in Bimini, Pink Sands golf tournament, Bahamas Bowl football game and the Hero World Challenge, just to name a few.

Several teams, including the Cleveland Browns offensive players, Houston Rockets, Tottenham Hotspurs and the Miami Heat have all made the trip to The Bahamas. The Bahamas has also played host to a few regional and international sporting events. The latest one was the 4th Anita Doherty North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Track and Field Championships in Grand Bahama in August.

The visit to Florida was a part of the ministry’s global sales and marketing mission series. The series of events will continue on to New York later this month. Further stops in the USA include Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Los Angeles, California, followed by cities across Canada.

In addition to major travel hubs throughout the US and Canada, the representatives from the ministry will be heading to Brazil and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

https://thenassauguardian.com/cooper-meets-with-miami-dolphins-and-orlando-magic/

 Home|Sports|Jones, Sun go down 2-0 to AcesSports

Jones, Sun go down 2-0 to Aces

The Bahamian notches double-double in loss

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 14, 2022 175 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

Bahamian professional basketball player Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the Connecticut Sun struggled against the Las Vegas Aces, as they fell 85-71 last night. The series is now 2-0 in the Aces’ favor in the best-of-five WNBA Final series, after the first two games at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jones, the 2021 WNBA Most Valuable Player, finished the game with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor. She checked out of the game with 3:07 left in the game, as it was a foregone conclusion with the Aces up 80-62.

The Grand Bahama native was able to go 6-for-11 from the field. She hit the first shot from deep for her team in the third quarter to finish 1-for-3 in the game from that range. The center dished out three times and had nine defensive boards and two offensive boards.

Her fellow Grand Bahamian native, Indiana Pacers guard Chavano “Buddy” Hield, was in Vegas to support her.

It was not a good shooting night for the Sun, who shot 42.2 percent from the field and went 3-for-14 from deep. The Aces shot the ball well, making 51.6 percent of their shots from the field.

With the loss, the Sun will now look to be the first team in league history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the WNBA Finals. Those teams are 0-15 when down 2-0 in a best-of-five series.

The Aces, who are one win away from the winning the championship, went up 80-60 at the 4:28 mark in the fourth quarter for their largest lead of the game.

The start of the third quarter was a little slow for the Sun, as the Aces scored the first four points in that quarter. The Sun picked up its offense as they went on a 9-0 run to cut the score down to 49-46, with 7:11 left in that quarter. That was the only offensive spark for the Sun, as the Aces went on to win that quarter 23-17, which turned out to be the game-changing period.

Jones got started early in this matchup and made her first field goal in the first minute of the game, to put the Sun up 4-2. It was a stark difference from game one, when Jones did not score or attempt a single shot and went scoreless in the first period. At the end of the first period, the Aces led 23-15.

Midway through the second quarter, the Sun went bigger against the Aces’ zone defense. They had all three of their bigs – Jones, Brionna Jones and DeWanna Bonner – on the floor. They were able to go on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to six points at 37-43, a run that was snapped when Wilson made a late layup in the second quarter to put the Aces up 45-37 heading into the half.

Jones led the Sun with 11 points in the first half, after scoring seven points in the second quarter.

The Aces’ three-headed monster – 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum – each scored 20 or more points in the game. Wilson had a game-high 26 points, while Gray and Plum had 21 and 20 points respectively.

The series now swings to the East Coast, as the Sun look to start the back-end sweep when they play the hosts in a must-win game three at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. That game gets underway tomorrow at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

https://thenassauguardian.com/jones-sun-go-down-2-0-to-aces/

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: D’SHAWN KNOWLES, ANFERNEE SEYMOUR, IAN LEWIS, TAHNAJI THOMAS, COACH ALBERT CARTWRIGHT, URAL FORBES and CHAVEZ FERNANDER.

As of Tuesday, September 13, 2022

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#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#FOR the third time because the country is not eligible to field a team as yet, the Bahamas will have some players and a coach representing Great Britain at the World Baseball Classic.

#Without a team to qualify to compete, the Bahamas will once again join forces with Great Britain in the tournament that is being played in Regensburg, Germany, September 16-21.

#They have been paired in Pool A with Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, France and South Africa.

#Making up Pool B, which will play in Panama City, Panama, September 30 to October 8, are Panama, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan and New Zealand.

#The top two teams at each Qualifier will advance to the main tournament that will be played in March.

#Albert Cartwright, who played on Great Britain’s teams in 2013 and again in 2017, is already in Germany where he will be on the sidelines as a coach with pitchers Tahnaji Thomas and Chavez Fernander, catcher Ural Forbes and outfielders Anfernee Seymour and D’Shawn Knowles.

#Ian Lewis, the only infielder selected, won’t be making the trip as he’s currently on the injured list and wasn’t released by the Miami Marlins’ minor league organisation.

#Cartwright, who was in Germany with Forbes and Seymour, while the others are due in today, said the Bahamian players got hit pretty hard by the injury bug this year and so a number of players who had the opportunity to play on the team could not because they got hurt.

#“I feel confident. I feel like each year when they started this and we were allowed to play for Great Britain in 2013, me and Antoan (Richardson) got better each year,” he said.

#“I hope that we continue to get better this year and advance to the big dance.”

#Cartwright and Richardson returned to play for Great Britain in 2017 with Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm, Kyle Simmons, Ali Knowles, Todd Isaacs, Champ Stuart, Chavez Young and Reshard Munroe. The classic was scheduled to be played again in 2020 but was delayed to this year because of COVID-19.

#“When we got started in 2013, it was just me and Antoan and Great Britain was just fresh into playing into the classic,” Cartwright said. “In 2017 when we added a lot more players, we actually believed we had a chance to advance, but we didn’t.

#“Now in 2022, we believe we have a chance to advance because we have so many talented young players playing on the team. It’s time to get over the hump, time to turn things around and time to make history for baseball for the Bahamas.”

#The 2017 classic was the last official baseball game that Cartwright played in before he retired. He’s now joined up with Geron Sands in the formation of I-Elite Bahamas – a local organisation that is helping to prepare the next generation of Bahamian players to play in the professional ranks or to secure athletic scholarships to college.

#“These young boys are so talented, so it’s good to go out there on the field and watch them perform,” Cartwright said. “It’s good to be around Bahamians because it’s not every day that you get a chance to do that at the international level.

#“I was talking to Anfernee earlier and he said he was excited to be in Germany and he’s excited to be playing for Great Britain where he can team up with his boys to fight for something. That was how I felt when me and Antoan first played together in 2012. It’s good to see them getting that same experience.”

#Bahamas Baseball Association secretary general Teddy Sweeting said it’s a great opportunity for the young to showcase their talent, like Seymour who is trying to get back into the minor league.

#“Once the players indicate their availability to play for the team, we had to seek their permission from their international organisations for them to be released,” Sweeting said.

#“We had a few more players, but they couldn’t get their release from their organisation so they can’t play this year.”

#Once the names were submitted to Great Britain, they made the final selection on who they would have added to their team based on the positions they needed to be filled.

#The Bahamas has had to play for Great Britain because with the Bahamas being ranked at number 80 in the world, the ranking was not high enough to be one of the teams coming out of the Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE) organisation, the governing body for baseball in the Americas.

#“Once you compete in their regional tournaments, it would allow you to generate points and based on our ranking, we would be allowed to compete as a country,” Sweeting pointed out. “But the Bahamas has not competed in any international tournaments in COPABE or the World Baseball Association for many years, although we’ve had teams competing in tournaments such as the Babe Ruth Little League and AAU Tournaments, which are private tournaments and are not COPABE tournaments.”

#Sweeting said they have been advised as to what they need to do in order to get a chance to compete in the next classic and they are working on putting things in place.

#He noted that in December, the BBA will be hosting the Caribbean Baseball Cup with seven visiting countries participating.

#The tournament is being scheduled for the new baseball complex, which is expected to be completed by the end of November. Sweeting said the tournament is expected to christen the new stadium, but also provide the Bahamas with their first step in getting a chance to qualify for the next classic rather than having players play again for Great Britain.

#The last international tournament that the World Baseball/Softball Confederation has on record that the Bahamas participated in was in 2018 at the Under-18 men’s baseball World Cup Qualifier for the Americas in Panama. The last men’s national team to compete was at the 2009 World Baseball Challenge in British Colombia, Canada.

#Great Britain will play its first game in this year’s tournament at 1pm Friday at the Armin Wolf Arena against France.

#All games will be available for viewing on the World Baseball Classic YouTube and Facebook pages.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/13/bahamians-set-play-great-britain/?news

As of Tuesday, September 13, 2022

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AMARIE ARCHER

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#AMARIE Archer emerged as one of the top performers for the Dodge City Community College Conquistadors as they earned their first win of the season.

#Archer finished with eight tackles (two for a loss) and 1.5 sacks in the Conquistadors’ first win of the season – a 28-14 triumph over Highland at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City, Kansas.

#The Conqs improved to 1-2 and will be off next week before they return on September 24 to face Diamond Football Academy out of Texas.

#Archer has recorded a tackle in each game in limited minutes thus far but was one of the breakout stars in Saturday’s win.

#The 6’4”, 320-pound freshman defensive tackle is currently ranked second on the team in sacks and seventh in tackles.

#Michael Tunsil, who recruited Archer to complete his prep career at Miami International Academy in Miami, Florida, said he has seen the growth and development in his game.

#He previously received offers from Webber International University and Florida Memorial University.

#“Three years ago I was able to convince this kid to transfer from the state of Kansas to play high school football in South Florida,” Tunsil said. “He said he was a defensive tackle but we played him at offensive guard his junior and senior seasons.”

#Archer, along with fellow Bahamian Mazio Randall, have been anchors on the Dodge City defensive line thus far in their freshman season.

#Randall had two tackles against Highland and now has six on the season.

#He is also the only member of the defence to record a fumble recovery thus far this season.

#Randall had three tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery against nationally ranked No.2 Iowa Western Community College Reivers.

#“I’ve coached some good offensive teams during my coaching career.

#“All Sun Belt, All MEAC and All Ohio Valley,” Tunsil said while the two were in their senior year of high school.

#“I have three good senior offensive linemen that have all conference potential. Kaylin Smith, Mazio Randall and Amarie Archer,” he said.

#Randall, 6’4” 300 pounds, played on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball as a senior at Miami International.

#He chose Dodge City in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference of the NJCAA over offers from South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference, Kentucky Christian and Webber International University in the NAIA.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/13/amarie-archer-records-career-high-eight-tackles/?news

As of Tuesday, September 13, 2022

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STEPHEN Sears Jr

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#STEPHEN Sears Jr and his St Francis Xavier X-Men are off to an impressive start this season and are now nationally ranked in Canada’s U Sports poll.

#The No. 6 ranked X-Men improved to 2-0 on the season with a 24-10 victory over the Acadia Axemen, September 10 at STFX Stadium.

#They began the season with a 25-12 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies in week one. “The season is going great so far. Two big wins to start off. We play Bishops (1-1) this weekend on the road so hopefully we continue the success,” Sears said.

#“Our running game is solid and passing is coming along on offence. Our defence has been holding it down. Right now I’m dressing but still second string. Still putting in that work and staying ready.”

#Sears is the latest collegiate football prospect to follow the pipeline from The Bahamas to playing the game at the highest level in Canada.

#He committed to the X-Men of the Atlantic University Sport Conference following his standout tenure with the Holland College Hurricanes.

#Sears was named the Hurricanes’ 2021 Offensive Lineman of the Year when the team announced its annual athletic awards in the postseason.

#The business administration major was also named an Atlantic Football League All-Star offensive lineman after his second season with the programme.

#He said the transition to competing at a higher level has been a welcome challenge thus far.

#“It’s been great, a bit more fast-paced, a tough schedule football wise with more meetings and practices and as always learning a new system is a bit challenging. But I’m used to everything now and I love it,” he said.

#“A lot of talented athletes on one team going at it in practice and games.”

#The X-Men are the reigning 2021 AUS football champions following a 25-17 victory over the Bishop’s Gaiters in the Subway Loney Bowl championship game.

#They were eliminated in the national semifinal after a 61-6 loss to the OUA champion Western Mustangs in the U SPORTS Mitchell Bowl.

#The game marked the fourth appearance for STFX in a U SPORTS national semifinal bowl game in the past six seasons.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/13/stephen-sears-jr-and-x-men-ranked-no6/?news

SHAUNAE MILLER-UIBO, of The Bahamas, still sits in good company on the all-time list of performers after the 12th edition of the Diamond League – a series of 12 events during the course of the year that concludes with a two-day final. (AP Photo)

As of Tuesday, September 13, 2022

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#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#While she didn’t compete in this year’s Wanda Diamond League Final a week ago in Zurich, Switzerland, quarter-miler Shaunae Miller-Uibo still sits in good company on the all-time list of performers.

#After the 12th edition of the league – a series of 12 events during the course of the year that concludes with a two-day final – Miller-Uibo is listed as one of six women who have captured two Diamond League titles in the same year.

#Miller-Uibo, still the only Bahamian to win a Diamond League title since the inception in 2010, won both events in 2017 to join American Allyson Felix, who did the feat in 2010, along with American Carmelita Jeter and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 100/200m champions in 2011 and 2013 respectively, Ethiopian-born Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan, a 1,500/5,000m winner in 2019 and Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen, the long and triple jump winner in 2018.

#American sprinter Noah Lyles, who won his fourth 200m title in five years this year, is the only male athlete to have achieved the double feat, taking the 100/200 crown in 2019.

#This year, Miller-Uibo was eligible to compete in the 200/400 combo, but she opted not to compete.

#She captured a three-peat in the 200m in 2017-2019 to go along with her 400 metre triumph in 2017.

#While she didn’t compete this year, the Bahamas was represented by sprinter Tynia Gaither and hurdler Devynne Charlton.

#Gaither, the North American, Central American and Caribbean’s 200m silver medallist, competed in the same event where she was sixth in a time of 22.66 seconds as Shericka Jackson took the title in 21.80.

#Charlton, the 26-year-old Bahamian women’s national 100m hurdles record holder, World Indoor and Commonwealth Games silver medallist and bronze at the NACAC Championships, was fifth in her specialty in Zurich in 12.66.

#World record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria won the title to add to her collection from the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/13/miller-uibo-still-sits-good-company/?news

 Home|Uncategorized|Marlins shuts down ‘Jazz’ for seasonSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 12, 2022 469 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

Bahamian professional baseball player Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr. has been ruled out for the season with a stress fracture in his back. Miami Marlins General Manager Kim Ng confirmed the news on Saturday.

It is disappointing turn of events for the second baseman, who was having an impressive season for the Marlins. He has not played since June 28 and had no timetable to return to the diamond. He did a CT scan on July 21 and that is when the stress fracture in his lower back was discovered. Chisholm was set to return to the lineup in six weeks later, which was earlier this month.

Marlins Manager Don Mattingly said the team thought it could probably push Jazz to come back and play designated hitter.

“I think the risk/reward on that – he has a stress fracture in his back. It’s something you could say, ‘well, it’s healed, but is it all the way?’ It just doesn’t seem to be worth it,” Mattingly said. “I think Jazz would like to play, he would like to have played. I think the organization basically made that decision for him, that we were going to just let this thing go, keep strengthening all year long, so we know going into the winter that he’s healthy, he’s ready, he’s doing everything, he feels great. So again, I think it’s an organizational decision.”

Chisholm was having a phenomenal year for the Marlins, batting .254 with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs (runs batted in) and 39 runs scored. He was among the league leaders as second basemen in several offensive statistics and was a pillar of stability defensively for the Marlins.

He also recorded 12 stolen bases. Chisholm has an on-base percentage (OBP) of .325 and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .860.

Chisholm was named as a starter to the National League team for the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star classic on July 19. He was forced to miss that game because of the injury, but was able to attend the other All-Star Game festivities. He was the sixth Marlin to be voted by the fans in that game as a starter.

Defensively, Chisholm has 93 putouts and 123 assists in 220 total chances this season. He has helped turn 21 double plays and has a fielding percentage of .982.

Mattingly thinks that they took the precaution route.

“I think [Jazz] thinks he could have played two weeks ago, probably,” Mattingly said. “I think this is more about, let’s make 100 percent sure there’s no reason to even be on the limits of this. I think it’s more of a medical thing for Jazz, knowing that this guy’s pretty natural at what he does. It’s not like he had to play these games to prove to himself he was going to be okay next year. I think he already thinks he’s going to be okay next year.”

The Marlins sport a 57-81 win/loss record on the season, sitting at the bottom of the NL, they are well on their way to miss the playoffs for a second straight year. They could have certainly use Chisholm’s offense and energy.

Chisholm is widely regarded as the Marlins’ best player and one of the game’s most exciting young talents. He is the first Bahamian to be selected to an all-star appearance in the MLB.

https://thenassauguardian.com/marlins-shuts-down-jazz-for-season/

 Home|Uncategorized|National high school championships are backSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 12, 2022 203 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

After a three-year hiatus, the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Sports Unit has brought back the National High School Championship Series for the 2022-2023 school year under the theme “Sports Is Back”, starting with the volleyball championships in November in Grand Bahama.

According to the unit’s senior officer, Evon Wisdom, they have added two new disciplines – swimming and tennis. The other sports are cross country, basketball, track and field, golf, soccer, primary school track and field, baseball and softball. Wisdom said that it was imperative that the minster, Glenys Hanna-Martin, gets sports back.

“Educational time was lost, significant contact time with our students was lost, and a lot of our students suffered academically because of that lost time on task and actual physical contact with teachers. Minister Hanna-Martin feels that a significant number of children were hurt recreationally during the pandemic and feels that scholarships may have even been lost because of the non-activity,” Wisdom said.

He added, “She is trying her best to ensure and that sports is back, so that our coaches are able to get contact time with these children and for activity to positively take place. The children to a greater extent would be able to receive academic advantage through athletic scholarships.”

Volleyball, basketball and soccer are set to be held in Grand Bahama, as they want to give the student-athletes from the other islands the opportunity to travel, and the ones who are outside of New Providence the opportunity to travel to the capital.

Volleyball is set for November 16-18. Cross country is right after volleyball on November 24. There is no action in January and February in terms of national championship action. However, March will see basketball, track and field, and the golf championship being played. Basketball is planned for March 2-6, track and field is right after on March 9-11 and golf will be played March 17-21. Soccer is the only event set for April, with a tentative date of April 26-30, to take place between Grand Bahama and New Providence.

May will be the busiest month with five national championships – tennis, primary school track and field, swimming, baseball and softball. Tennis is up first on May 3-6. That will be followed with primary school track and field, slated for May 10-12. May 18-21 will be busy as swimming, baseball and softball will all happen on those dates.

Although face-to-face learning has resumed, Wisdom said the ministry is still operating in a COVID-19 environment and as such wants to ensure that the student-athletes are safe. They are looking to implement certain measures.

“We expect the school associations to operate under the protocols,” Wisdom said. “We want to see monitoring from home to school and then for after-school activity, that monitoring will include checking a child’s temperature. Should the parents in their home environment feel that their child may have been exposed to COVID, they should ensure they are tested and if positive, quarantine for 14 days.”

“In the game environment we would like for two things to be always available – a sanitation station where children are able to sanitize, and officials must be in possession of a temperature gun, so that before the game starts, they’re able to check the temperatures of the participants. We’re also asking, as best as possible, that there be social distancing as best as possible.”

Wisdom is hoping that in the team sports they can get schools from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini, Abaco and Eleuthera. All the associations do not play the various sports at the same time, but Wisdom said that he is hoping that they can have it happen in the future.

https://thenassauguardian.com/national-high-school-championships-are-back/

 Home|Sports|‘JJ’, Sun come up short as Aces takes 1-0 leadSports

Jones finished with 15 points and nine rebounds

Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 12, 2022 192 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

After going down by as much 12 points in the first quarter, Bahamian basketball player Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the Connecticut Sun made the game close, but in the end fell to the Last Vegas Aces 67-64 yesterday. With the win, the Aces take a 1-0 lead in the 2022 WNBA Finals series.

Playing on the road in front of over 10,000 loud spectators at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jones poured in 15 points and missed a double-double as she pulled in nine rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor. The center shot 7-for-15 from the field and 1-for-4 from deep. She had six offensive rebounds and three on the defensive side of the ball.

It is the fourth trip for the Sun and the third trip for the Aces to the WNBA Finals. However, none of them has won the title. It was the first WNBA Finals victory for the Aces.

As expected, the series had some fireworks as both teams were in a dog fight in the second half, but the Aces was able to take down the Sun for the third time this season. After all, the series is featuring the 2021 WNBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in Jones and the 2022 WNBA MVP, Aces A’ja Wilson.

The Sun had a slow fourth quarter but they almost erased a 60-67 Aces lead with 1:24 left in the game. That came when Alyssa Thomas made back-to-back jump shots as the Aces led 67-64 with 34.2 remaining in the game. After the Aces failed to make a field goal with 17 seconds left in the game, Sun’s head coach Curt Miller called a timeout that saw DeWanna Bonner took the game tying three-point shot, but it was too short as it hit the side of the rim.

Jones had a tough first quarter offensively, as she did not attempt a single filed goal in that quarter to come up empty. That quarter saw them having the tall task of overcoming a 12-point deficit as the Vegas led 21-9 with 4:05 left in that quarter. Miller called a timeout.

They took the lead down to a single digit at the end of the first quarter, as the Aces went into the second quarter with a 25-17 lead.

Jones came alive in the second quarter, scoring eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. She was instrumental in waking the Sun in the second quarter, where they held a 21-9 advantage to make it a competitive game. The Grand Bahama native had a four-point run of her own in the midway point of the quarter. She made a layup and drew the foul with 5:44 left in the second quarter, to cut the Aces lead down to 29-28. She missed the free-throw to tie the game up. Forty seconds later, Jones came down the court and scored a five-foot jump shot to put her team up for the first time of the game, 30-29.

At the end of the first half, the Sun led 38-34.

The Sun was led by Alyssa Thomas, who finished with 19 points and 11 boards to go with three steals and blocks apiece.

Wilson finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and two steals in the win. She had help from Chelsea Gray who scored 21 points.

Both teams shot the ball poorly from the field, as the Sun shot 37.8 percent while the Aces shot 39.7 percent. There was a huge difference in free-throw shooting, as the Sun finished 3-for-5 while the Aces finished 16-for-19 from the charity stripe. The Sun held the advantage on the glass as they had 38 rebounds compared to the Aces 33 rebounds.

The best-of-seven series remains in Las Vegas. It is almost a must-win game for the Sun if they do not want to put a lot of pressure on themselves as the series continues. They will play the second game tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

https://thenassauguardian.com/jj-sun-come-up-short-as-aces-takes-1-0-lead/

Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) battles for the ball over Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray (12) during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series Sunday, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow)

As of Monday, September 12, 2022

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#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#JONQUEL Jones and the Connecticut Sun nearly overcame another fourth-quarter deficit but their late rally fell just short in game one of the WNBA Finals.

#Jones finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, but the Las Vegas Aces took an early advantage in the best-of-five series with a 67-64 win yesterday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

#Jones shot 7-15 from the field in 30 minutes.

#“Ultimately I’m happy with the game that we played and we gave ourselves a good opportunity to come out there with a win, and it just didn’t go our way. But we are excited about game two,” Jones said in her postgame availability. “I think it was just, you know, it was just basketball. We were shooting shots and they weren’t going in. But ultimately we were playing great defence as well and that’s one of the things I talked about, finding the wins within the game. Yes, we weren’t hitting the shots we know we can hit but we were also playing good D. Ultimately, we’ll be all right.”

#The Aces will also host game two at 9pm on September 13, broadcast live on ESPN. The series shifts to Connecticut for games three (September 15 at 9pm on ESPN) and four if necessary (September 18 at 4pm on ESPN). A fifth and deciding game would be hosted by the Aces at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 20.

#Jones looked ahead to the process of managing her body in preparation for the workload and quick turnaround based on the schedule of the series.

#“I like the playoff format. The championship format is a little different. The games are kind of quick. I feel like in our series against Dallas, we had at least two days in between so you had time to really recover and rest. I’m looking at the Finals schedule and it’s like, play one day, play again. So, it’s a little different, but you know it’s for the trophy, so you just got to suck it up and get it done,” she said.

#“I think a good night’s sleep after the game and making sure I’m stretching directly after. Any type of recovery that will help me recover..you’re working an entire season, so you just want to go out there and put your best foot forward and be locked in.”

#Las Vegas finished with the best record in the league at 26-10 and also claimed the Commissioner’s Cup. The Sun finished the season 25-11 for the third-best record.

#Las Vegas had the advantage in the regular season with wins in two of the three matchups.

#Jones added that the Sun will have to find ways to limit the balanced scoring attack of the Aces.

#“For us as a team, it’s just their firepower. They have so many people that can score the ball.

#“From A’ja (Wilson), Chelsea (Gray), Riquna (Williams), and Jackie (Young) scoring on different levels as well,” she said.

#“I think the biggest challenge for us is making sure we’re locked in on defence, getting them to slow down and not giving them easy buckets in transition with our turnovers and stuff like that.”

#Wilson finished with a game high 24 points and 11 rebounds, Gray scored 21 and Young added 11.

#Jones averaged 13 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game in the 3-2 semifinal win over the defending champion Chicago Sky.

#In the opening round, she averaged 16.7 points and nine rebounds per game against the Dallas Wings.

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