Bahamas complete double with CBC U16 Girls victory

Bahamas strengthened its claim of being the best junior basketball territory in the Caribbean with a win in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Girls' Under-16 Championships that had emulated the Boys, which won a week earlier at the same venue. Bahamas won 55-50 in a bruising battle that was decided in the last five minutes against Suriname to bring the curtains came down on the Championships that Guyana hosted at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall over the last two weeks. Eventual Most Valuable Player (MVP), Tanea Bowleg penetrated the Surinamese defence with perfection for 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. Valicia Demeritte contributed 14 points and nine rebounds for Bahamas. Suriname's best scorer was Mirelva Marica with 15 points while Chayenne Breinburg scored 12 points. It was a close game throughout with the biggest disparity between the two teams being the free-throw shooting where the Bahamas went 15-31 from the charity stripe compared to Suriname's 5-22 let down. The Bahamas basically bullied their way in the post to score all of their points in a clear strategy to get to the basket, without hoisting a single shot from beyond the three-point arc. Only a week earlier, Bahamas' male team defeated Guyana in similar fashion. Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes, who played no small role in ensuring a successful championship, congratulated the girls before presenting them with the Championship Trophy. 'This has been an awesome opportunity for young people to get together from the Caribbean to learn about the region and get to know each other better. Congratulations to my sisters,' Hughes said, adding that Guyana is grateful for the opportunity. Earlier in the evening, British Virgin Islands (BVI) held off Antigua and Barbuda for a 44-38 win in the third place playoff. BVI's defence was impeccable and held the Antiguan offence to single digit scores in the first three quarters of the game. Forward, Shauliqua Fahie scored more than half of BVI's points with 25 to lead her squad to the win. She also had nine rebounds and five steals to help BVI maintain their advantage throughout the course of the game. Timna Philip had a double-double for Antigua with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Britnay Gore had nine points and 16 rebounds. The top three teams qualified for the CentroBasket U-17 Championships.
Courtesy of: kaieteurnewsonline.com