By Daniel Haynes

TWO certainly beats one and the Bahamas have copped not one but two Caribbean Basketball Confederation U-16 Championship gold medals when their females joined the males and secured gold last Saturday night.The game finished 55-50, being close all the way to one minute left with Suriname trailing by two points. However, quick scoring and clutch free throw- shooting by the Bahamians saw them holding it out to end the game.

The game was by every standard worthy of a final, with both teams trading buckets. However it wasn’t that way for long, with Bahamas jumping out to a quick 13-4 lead with 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

Suriname jumped back into the game through the scoring of Mirelva Marica, who got them on a 7-0 run, to finish the quarter 13-11, with Suriname trailing by 2 points

The second quarter saw both teams trading baskets, with Anita Tolud and Marica continuing to score for the Surinamese side, while for the Bahamas it was Tenea Bowleg dominating the scoring. Between Tolud and Marica, Suriname took the lead to end the quarter up by 1, with the score at 25-24.

Coming out of the half, Bowleg once again pushed the scoring for the Bahamas while star guard Valicia Demeritte had a moderately quiet night from the floor. In the third quarter, however, was the resurgence of Cyaram Kensmil, who had foul trouble for the Surinamese side. The third quarter ended with the scores tied 38-38.

However,it was all systems go for the Bahamas who weathered the storm of Suriname’s early attack in the fourth quarter.

The scoring was even for both teams, however,late errors by the Surinamese and hard defence by the Bahamians saw them(Bahamas) eventually extending their lead to close the game.

With the win, the Bahamas created history with both their men and women’s teams winning gold at the championships. The female team also went undefeated in the tournament; doing the same as the males. For the Bahamas ,it was Valicia Valentine who won the most outstanding player of the tournament award.

“I’m so happy to be recognized for my efforts and hopefully next year I can increase my scoring and defensive mindset in order to do better” stated Valentine.

The British Virgin Islands defeated Antigua and Barbuda 44-38, finishing third,thereby joining Suriname and the Bahamas in the Centro Basketball Championships next year.

Antigua and Barbuda finished fourth, Barbados fifth, Trinidad and Tobago sixth and hosts Guyana finished seventh.