By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net The Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) basketball championships at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium got a big boost from the sponsorship of BTC. Jackie Adderley, who represented the company's marketing department, said their company is committed to making a contribution to the community, particularly sports. "We thought it was a good initiative and so we went with it," she stated. Based on what she saw, Adderley said they felt they got their money's worth, especially over the first two days on Thursday and Friday when both the junior girls and boys as well as the senior boys champions were crowned. However, she felt the numbers could have been better for game three of the senior girls final on Saturday. "I expected today to be the biggest day but unfortunately the other championships were completed on Friday," said Adderley as she watched the CR Walker Knights cart off their fifth straight senior girls crown. With the tremendous response they got from the public, Adderley said BTC will continue to throw its support behind the high school programme, especially as they head into the prestigious Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic next week and the Ministry of Education's National Basketball Championships scheduled for April. Evon Wisdom, who heads the sports division of the ministry, said they were pleased that BTC came on board to sponsor the GSSSA championships. Wisdom and the GSSSA transformed the stadium into a site that was conducive for live broadcasts. BTC banners were also on display inside the gym. As promised, Wisdom said after staging a successful National High School Volleyball Championships in Grand Bahama in November, the ministry intends to put on the National High School Basketball Championships. "But the problem we are facing right now is agreeing on a date," he said. "We are looking at either the second or the third week in April. Some people say that's too late. "If we hold it any earlier, we will interfere with the track and field season. But we also just got a call from some private people who are interested in bringing down some high school and college coaches to view the Bahamian basketball players and having it then would work out perfectly for them." While his ministry is eager to give the athletes the kind of national exposure to the various sports, Wisdom said they are also faced with the challenge of having all of the sporting bodies stage their disciplines at the same time. "There are some leagues that are not in sync, so what we have to do is try to sit down with everybody so that they can compete at the same time," Wisdom said. And then there's the cry of the age compliance with some athletes transferring from one institution to another and repeating grade 12 and there is no verification of their birth dates. "I think what we need to do is get started and at some point get it to where everybody is on the same page," Wisdom said. "But that will come in time where the nationals will be set up the way it is expected." Wisdom said unfortunately, the National Basketball Tournament will be only for the senior boys and they intend to invite the top 16 schools in the country to participate. However, he said the ministry will be lending its support to the Geneva Rutherford Girls National Basketball Tournament that is being organised by Gladstone 'Moon' McPhee's HOYTES programme in Grand Bahama, starting on Wednesday.