By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

CONGO TOWN, South Andros - It was quite a phenomenal week for the Your Essential Store (YES) Giants as they repeated as the division two champions of the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) National Round Robin Tournament in South Andros just a few days after successfully defending their division two title in the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA).

The YES Giants closed out their tourney experi- ence on Saturday night at the newly-built South Andros Gymnasium with a dominant win over the Harbour Island Panthers 100-53. The champions remained unbeaten in the tournament, winning all five of the games played.

Championship Game

The YES Giants came out the gate firing on all cylinders in the opening quarter of the championship game. They advanced 19-9 on the scoreboard with less than 2:00 on the clock and proceeded to outscore the Panthers 23-11 going into the second period.

The Panthers managed to hang around in the ball game until the YES Giants switched to a triangle-and-two defence which stalled their offence.

While the Panthers were struggling offensively, the champions were kicking it into high gear with Most Valuable Player (MVP) Brandon Strachan leading the way. He powered his way to a game-high 21 points complemented by 10 rebounds and two blocked shots. Strachan was one of four Giants to score in double digits in the contest.

Anderias Black was also special for the Giants. He turned in a double-double performance of 14 points, 12 rebounds along with three steals.

With the team running like a well-oiled machine, the division two champions surged ahead by 20 (47-27) going into the locker rooms and never looked back.

YES Giants head coach Mark Hanna was proud to take home the hardware for a third consecutive year.

“We won three straight in Nassau and three straight in the nationals so it feels very good, especially after you work hard a whole year. We played some really good series in Nassau and that prepared us for this so we came over here mentally and physically ready. It was a very good tournament. We really enjoyed ourselves, hats off to the federation, they did a good job with this,” coach Hanna said.

After playing the Panthers earlier in the tournament, Hanna said the key to the championship win was exploiting their flaws.

“We played them earlier in this tournament and beat them by about 25 points. We found some flaws in their big man, he couldn’t shoot.

“We went with the triangle-and-two defence and pressured the guards and played zone with the big men and the game was over,” he said.

The Giants dominated the rebound category with 67 compared to 48 by the Panthers. They scored 42 points from turnovers while the Panthers scored 15. The second unit also played a pivotal role, scoring 57 points compared to seven.

Christopher Grant pitched in a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Panthers in the loss.

Strachan, the Championship MVP, was all smiles as he expressed how it felt to take home the trophy.

“It feels good. We practiced every day and it feels good to win it with my team. For three years we have been together and put in the effort and hard work,” the MVP said.

He was thankful to teammates for passing him the ball in the best spots.

Third place

The South Andros Defenders utilised the home crowd to their advantage in the third place game against the Mangrove Cay Sharks. The Defenders defended their home turf with a resounding 87-51 victory over the Sharks.

Aaron Rolle, head coach of the Defenders, is hoping to one day make it out of the third place position but, for now, the team will take the win.

“We will take it. For the past 6-7 years we have not been able to get over this hump with third place. It is a learning experience but I am just happy that the guys showed some heart at the end of the tournament,” he said.

Six Defenders scored in double digits with Rickhinson Francis at the helm.

Francis gave the Sharks’ defence problems all night long as he turned in a game-high 22 points to pair with 10 rebounds.

The Sharks had a slim two-point lead to put a lid on the opening period ahead 17-15. Both teams were locked 24 apiece late in the second quarter until Jeffrey Francis made an easy layup to put the Defenders ahead by two. Francis picked up three points at the charity stripe to help the Defenders to a 32-29 lead going into half- time. The Defenders then turned up the intensity in the second half and created a seven-point separation at the 3:36 mark of the third quarter.

They went on to outscore the Sharks 23-7 and wrapped up the third period in charge 55-36. After this stretch, the Sharks never recovered. “We know how they play, we were just waiting for the right moment. This feels so awesome because, just a few weeks ago, I defeated their high school team in the Andros High School Championship and now to come and win with the senior men we will have bragging rights for the year,” coach Rolle said.