The island of Bahamas showed why they are considered as one of the region’s most dominant in the sport of basketball, by capturing the 2016 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) U16 title with a 84 – 57 points win over Guyana at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
For the Bahamians, the win meant that they would hold on to the title, having won the last championship which was held in Antigua and Barbuda in 2008.
It was Guyana’s second time participating in the CBC showpiece; first competing in 1999 when the event was also hosted at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon, along with Minister of Public Works David Patterson (former president of the GABF), joined an almost packed venue to help cheer-on the home team, but it was simply total domination by the Bahamians from opening tip to final buzzer for the 27-point win in the final.
Bahamas’ ability to dominate the post along with running the fast break was too much for Guyana to handle; stifling the home side who were held to their lowest total of the tournament.
Domnick Bridgewater dropped a game high 34 points to go along with eight steals. Samuel Hunter was the next best contributor with 10 points.
Kevon Wiggins had sensational night, but his team-high 25 points and 14 rebounds meant nothing. Nigel Bowen was the only other player in double digits with 10 points.
Bahamas immediately opened the encounter with an up-tempo game for a quick 9-3 lead before Wiggins put on eight straight points for Guyana to tie the game at nine apiece.
Nevertheless, visitors presence on the inside on the offensive end of the court along with their early perimeter shoot in spite of of Wiggins’ 12 first quarter points allowed the Bahamians to go into the second quarter with a 30-18 lead.
Bahamas continued to pound the ball ‘down low’, playing a bruising style of basketball from the post with their inside-outside method as they extended the lead to 28 points by the end of the half with the score on 54-26 as the game was practically over by halftime.
The third and the fourth quarter was the same dose of medicine by the Bahamians who only opened their lead for the win.
With the male version of the tournament over and the Bahamas, Guyana and Jamaica qualifying for the FIBA U17 CentroBasket Championships, attention will now turn to the CBC Under-16 female championship, scheduled to begin on Tuesday July 12.
