Home|Sports|Exciting climax to sudden death playoffsSports
SAC junior girls and boys, Giants senior girls and Falcons senior boys make finals
Simba FrenchSend an emailFebruary 3, 2023 185 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) championship teams are now known as the playoffs ended last night in all four divisions at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium.
The best-of-three championship series gets underway on Monday, starting at 4 p.m., at the same location.
Punching their ticket to face the undefeated Kingsway Academy Saints in the junior girls division was the St. Augustine’s College (SAC) Big Red Machine. They held on, taking down the St. John’s College Giants, 28-27.
SAC defeated the Queen’s College Comets, 36-32, in junior boys action and will face the undefeated Jordan Prince William High School Falcons in the championship series.
The Giants were able to easily come away with a 34-6 victory over the Saints to set up the senior girls championship against SAC.
In the senior boys division, the Falcons prevented SAC from having a team in each division in the championships with a 56-50 victory. They will move on to play against the top-seeded Charles W. Saunders Cougars.
Junior Girls
SAC 28, Giants 27
A 12-6 fourth quarter advantage was enough for SAC to come away with the victory. Leading the way for them was Alexis Roberts who scored a game-high 15 points. She had help from Azarria Marshall who scored 10 points. Leading the way for the Giants was Zhyon Wilson with 10 points.
Junior Boys
SAC 36, Comets 32
The Comets attempted a comeback but a huge defensive stop at the end of the game by SAC helped them to hold on for the victory. SAC had a balanced scoring attack as three players scored seven or more points. Leading the way was Tyler Frazier with 10 points. Nathan Rolle had nine points and Keitho Johnson chipped in with eight points.
Senior Girls
Giants 34, Saints 6
The Giants were dominant in this game as they shut out the Saints, 17-0, in the first half, and never looked back. The Saints scored their first points of the night in the third quarter. There was some stifling defense on display for the Giants as they turned a number of forced turnovers into points. At the end of the third quarter, they led 27-3 and cruised to victory in the fourth quarter. Lebronique Demeritte led the way for the Giants with 13 points. Reyannah Green had 12 points as the duo paced the Giants’ scoring on the night. Chanelle Gibbs led the Saints with four points.
Senior Boys
Falcons 56, SAC 50
After finding a rhythm, the Falcons went on a crucial 10-0 scoring run at the 3:21 mark of the first quarter to take a 10-1 lead. SAC kept battling back and took a 45-42 lead on a Quinton Rolle three-point shot with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter. It was their first lead of the game since leading 1-0 early in the first quarter. After that, the Falcons took over. They went on an 8-0 run, taking the lead for good.
Trae Clarke came up big for the Falcons in the fourth quarter, coming away with four made buckets. He finished the night with 16 points. Kamari Minnis scored 10 of his 16 points in the second quarter to help the Falcons. Rolle brought SAC to within two points, 52-50, with under a minute left in the game but the Falcons went on a 4-0 run to end the game and set up a ‘Battle of the Baptist Schools’ in the championship as they will face the Charles W. Saunders Cougars.
Nicholas Bell had 16 points while Rolle finished with 14 points for SAC. Looking ahead to the championship series, Falcons Head Coach Ernest Saunders said they just want to win.
“I must say that C.W. Saunders has improved a lot,” Saunders said. “They are the number one team but we just have to do what we have to do and play our game.”
Both teams finished with a 9-1 win/loss record in regular season but it was the Falcons who handed the Cougars their only loss, 63-62.
The best-of-three championship series gets underway on Monday. Game Two in all four divisions will be played on Wednesday, and the third games, if necessary, will be played Thursday.
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