Hugh Campbell Classic moves into second day at Kendal Isaacs gym
Sheldon LongleySend an emailFebruary 22, 2023 335 2 minute read
The featured matchup on Day Two of the 2023 Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic was between the champions of the private schools here on New Providence and the runners-up of the government schools.
It certainly didn’t disappoint as it was a back and forth game until the government schools runners-up pulled away late. The Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves fell to the C.I. Gibson Rattlers in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) championship last week, while the C.W. Saunders Cougars outlasted the Jordan Prince William High Falcons in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) championship.
They gave the fans in attendance at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium a hard-fought battle, but in the end, the defensive pressure from the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter proved to be too much for the private school champs.
The T-wolves won, 42-35, and will move into the winner’s circle of the double-elimination tournament. They will move on to play the Patrick J. Bethel Marlins out of Central Abaco on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
“We thank God for the victory. They guys came here hungry, and the way we played, exhibited that,” said two-time GSSSA winning coach with the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins Denykco Bowles, now the head coach of the Timberwolves. “Our boys played extremely hard on both sides of the ball. We came into this tournament with a mindset of playing hard and taking it one game at a time, one possession at a time. Once we stay focused and stay poised and dedicated to what we need to do, we’ll be good to go,” he added.
The Cougars were down 13-10 after the first quarter, but went ahead 25-24 at the break. The Timberwolves re-took the lead early in the third quarter and never looked back. Down 28-29, a three-point shot from Kirkwood Rolle gave them the lead for good, and a basket in transition from Stephano Farrington padded the lead to four points. They ended the third ahead 33-31.
The Timberwolves continued to keep the pressure on, leading by as much as seven in the fourth quarter. The Cougars simply ran out of steam as they couldn’t get anything to fall in the all-important fourth. Given the caliber of the opponent, Bowles said he was grateful for the win.
“That’s a tough team over there. I’m glad we got the win, but we have a long way to go,” he said. “A lot of my guys never played this caliber of basketball before, so it’s a learning experience for us. It’s up to them now to want it and go out there and work for it. Hats off to them for the work they put in today, but we have to continue doing it. This is just the beginning. I just want them to give me 110 percent at all times. As a coach, that’s all I could ask for.”
Jefferson Bethel paced the Timberwolves with a game-high 17 points yesterday. Rolle, Farrington and Elton Pickstock scored five apiece. Nakero Brown and Romial Strachan scored eight points apiece for the Cougars and Raymone Woods dropped in seven.
The Timberwolves will play the Patrick J. Bethel Marlins on Wednesday evening while the Cougars won’t play again until Thursday night when they take on the loser of the St. George’s Jaguars and Temple Christian Suns game, in an elimination contest.
Action at the 2023 Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic continues today. The Grand Bahama and Family Island teams will hit the court for the first time.