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It’s another ‘Freeport vs. Nassau’ battle in the Hugh Campbell championship game
Sheldon LongleySend an emailFebruary 27, 2023 248 5 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
For the first time in six years, perennial Hugh Campbell Basketball Champions the C.I. Gibson Rattlers are back in the championship game, and they’ll meet the defending champions waiting on them.
It will be another ‘Freeport vs. Nassau’ battle, pitting two of the top teams in the country against each other. The Rattlers turned back the St. George’s Jaguars, 66-62, in their semifinal game at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium on Sunday night, and in the early game, the Sunland Baptist Stingers pulled off a mini upset, turning back the Tabernacle Baptist Falcons, 66-55.
The championship game between the Rattlers and defending champions Stingers is set for 8 p.m. this evening at the Kendal Isaacs gym.
Rattlers 66, Jaguars 62
The Jaguars never led, but made the Rattlers fight for a chance to represent New Providence in the championship game.
After falling behind by 13 points early, the Jags battled back to trail just 34-28 at the half, and got to within one point, 50-49, at the end of three. They pulled even twice in the third and another time in the fourth but could never get that go-ahead basket to give them an edge.
In the final minute of the game, a huge putback layup from Tashon Butler, a couple of defensive stops, and a free shot from Butler enabled the Rattlers to hold off the resilient Jaguars and end their longest drought in reaching the Hugh Campbell championship game since the early 90s.
Butler and James Delia had 17 points apiece to lead the Rattlers. Dieunel Joseph contributed 12 points and had a game-high 16 rebounds. Devorne Rigby had a game-high 26 points for the Jaguars, including shooting a remarkable 6-for-11 from three-point range. Shamar Davis was their only other player in double figures with 16 and he added 11 rebounds.
“That’s a tough team over there. We forced about two to three clock violations down the stretch and that was key for us,” said Rattlers Head Coach Kevin “KJ” Johnson. “We have to come out and play better against Sunland. They’re a very good team out of Grand Bahama and we have our work cut out for us. There’s always a good rivalry between Nassau and Grand Bahama and we’re just happy to be a part of it. They (Grand Bahama) were very strong this year, and it showed as they had three teams in the final four. We have a lot of work to do in Nassau in terms of our skill development, but there and some good coaches here and we’re going to make it happen. We just have to keep working.”
The Rattlers got off to a quick double-digit lead in the opening quarter as it took the Jaguars a while to get going. They didn’t score their first basket until the 4:34 mark of the opening quarter – a floater in the lane from Rigby. By the midway point of the opening quarter, the Rattlers were ahead, 13-2. The Rattlers were up 21-11 after one and went on to lead 32-19 coming down to the end of the second quarter before the Jags showed some signs of life and started to battle back.
The Jags went on to close the first half on a 9-2 scoring run to get back in the game.
A couple of three-point shots from Rigby pulled the Jags even at 34 in the third quarter and the
momentum started to shift. The score was tied again at 36, but then a 7-0 run from the Rattlers gave them a little bit of a cushion. However, the Jags came back again. They closed the third quarter on a 13-7 run to get to within one, 50-49, going into the fourth and final period.
The Jags couldn’t get that go-ahead basket to fall in the fourth and the Rattlers held on for the victory, winning 66-62.
Johnson knows that they have their work cut out for them in the final.
“Sunland is a very athletic team. It feels good to be back in the championship but our work is not done yet,” he said. “We have to play the kind of defense that we’re capable of playing in order to come out on top. Once we come out and play Rattlers basketball, I believe we’ll come out on top.”
A key component in the game was points off turnovers. The Rattlers won that battle, 18-4, and also scored 23 fast break points compared to 11 for the Jaguars.
Stingers 66, Falcons 55
In a battle of the “Baptist schools from Grand Bahama”, it would be the Sunland Baptist Stingers who would exempt revenge on the Tabernacle Baptist Falcons for a setback in the Grand Bahama Secondary Schools Athletic Association (GBSSAA) senior boys championship series.
This time, the Stingers came out on top, 66-55, winning convincingly in their Hugh Campbell semifinal game on Sunday at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium.
The Stingers were so dominant that the Falcons led for just 3:50 in the game, including not at all in the second half. In fact, the lead grew to as much as 18 points, 48-30, in the second half.
“We just came out and played our brand of basketball and dictated the pace of the game,” said Stingers Head Coach Jay Phillippe. “We wanted to be physical with them. The message to the guys was to go out there, play hard and have no regrets. We wanted to control the tempo of the game and attack them on the offensive side. I feel like we were able to do that. I think we were able to play our brand of basketball and that worked for us. There is a rivalry between Tabernacle and Sunland. It’s always a back and forth affair between us. Today, we wanted to come out here and execute our game plan and I believe we were able to do that.”
Coming off a two-year break after the tournament was not held, due to the threat of COVID-19, the Stingers are back in the championship game where they will go after another title. They won it all in 2020, right before the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports in the country for more than two years.
“It’s just a privilege to play basketball and to play it at this level,” said Phillippe. “To be able to come back and make it to the championship again speaks wonders about the program that we have at Sunland. We’re not done yet. We have one more game to go, so we’ll go back to the drawing board and come with more intensity in the championship game. Hopefully, we will be able to execute tomorrow night.”
In their semifinal game against the Falcons, the Stingers fell behind, 10-6, early, but they closed the first quarter on a 13-6 scoring run and never looked back. They led 19-16 after the end of one and 37-28 at the half. As mentioned the lead grew to as much as 18 in the third before the Stingers settled for a 51-37 lead after three. There was no comeback for the Falcons in the fourth.
“They’re (Falcons) a very good team and they beat us in Grand Bahama, so it was a revenge game for us. We saw the loss in Grand Bahama as motivation,” said Phillippe. “We put in a lot of work this year and we weren’t prepared to have it end without making it to the championship game.”
The Stingers will defend their Hugh Campbell title against the C.I. Gibson Rattlers tonight.
In their semifinal game, they got a game-high 26 points from Tianno Roberts, including a 5-for-7 performance from three-point range. Jordan Saunders added 11 points and Uriel Delancy scored 10 and pulled down 10 rebounds. Noah Bain had 15 points, four assists and four steals for the Falcons. Aiden Miller and Joshua Williams contributed 13 points apiece.
The Stingers scored 26 points off turnovers compared to 17 for the Falcons and outscored the Falcons, 21-10, on fast break points. They shot 8-for-16 from behind the three-point arc compared to just 3-for-14 for the Falcons.