By Daniel Haynes

IN a high tempo and very physical game, Antigua and Barbuda took on the Bahamas in the first game of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation(CBC) U16 Championships which opened at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall yesterday.The first quarter finished 23-11 in favour of the Bahamas, behind strong play from the guards. The defensive intensity of the Bahamian side found Antigua wanting with a total of 9 turnovers in that quarter.
The second quarter saw Bahamas extend the lead with use of the three- point shots as turnovers continued to plague the Antiguan side with much of their possession ending up with Bahamas putting the ball in the net. Going into halftime Antigua and Barbuda trailed 50-31.
Turnovers seemed to be the order of the day. Antigua started the third quarter with 4 straight turnovers, running themselves into the two man trap of the Bahamas. The side however, tried to mount a comeback by way of their jump shooting, hitting three straight shots but they could not stop the up tempo offensive and defensive styles of the Bahamians, which shone through.
In the fourth quarter, 4 Bahamians fouled out but the `fat lady’ had already began to sing. Great team play from the Bahamas versus the individualistic play from Antigua and Barbuda led to the final score line of 109-71.
When asked about his team’s play, Bahamas coach Quinton Hall stated that the team brought a lot of energy and eagerness;this being their first tournament. However, the team needed to settle down and play a lot better on defence as they progress in the tournament.
When asked about Bahamian youth basketball, he stated “The coaching network in the Bahamas is one where I played on the senior team and was coached by greats and now I coach the juniors, so it’s the same system continued.”
The Bahamas’ next encounter is today against the British Virgin Islands at 13:15hrs.
Meanwhile, in the second game of the day Barbados took on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in an evenly matched game. BVI held the advantage in pace but Barbados equalised with height.
Turnovers from both teams, in addition to a barrage of missed chances led to a first quarter score of 17-9 in favour of Barbados. BVI held the advantage in pace but Barbados equalised with height.
In the second half, BVI stormed back behind open shots which came from great passes. The BVI also kicked up its defensive intensity as well to limit Barbados’ attempts. The second quarter finished 34-33 with the BVI leading.
In the third quarter, Barbados just could not keep up with the BVI who seemed to have found their stride, negating the size of the Bajans and winning the rebounding battle by a large margin. The quarter ended with Barbados scoring only 5 points to BVI’s 17 with a score of 53-38.
In an unbelievable show of class, grit and nerve, the Barbados side stormed back to take the lead after two free throws with 1:58 seconds left in the game. The score read 60-59, with Barbados who had trailed the entire third quarter, defending for their lives, being led by Rasheed Maynard. Also assisting Maynard was Kiserian Adams who had 11 points but fouled out.
Maynard was then fouled on a three- point attempt by K’Moi Walters with the chance to bring the game level.
Walters then went to the line with a chance to tie the game 61-61 with 16.9 seconds left and missed both shots after which Nurse put the Bajans ahead.
After a couple of free throws from Chemar Steele, Barbados led 64-61, ultimately winning the game.
According to Barbados’ coach Zahir Motara, his team is excited about the comeback win and running high on emotion.
“Having come in Saturday we knew the first night would be scrappy, but once we got over the first game we would be alright.”
He also added that the team could compete with anyone on any given night due to the amount of heart they had and once they limited their turnovers.
Barbados will take on Dominica tomorrow