By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Charles W Saunders Cougars, the defending senior boys’ champions, withstood every onslaught from the Kingsway Academy Saints and held on for a hard-fought 71-61 victory.

The win highlighted day one of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ best-of-three championship series yesterday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

It came with two of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention executives president Rev. Dr Philip McPhee and his executive secretary, Rev. Dr. Glendon Rolle in the stands cheering them on amidst the junkanoo music.

Raymone Woods paced their attack with 34 points, Ludiahial Demeritte had eight, DeQuan Strachan had six and Treyvon Wright added five in the win.

“We made some bad mistakes. This is the time of the season when you want to see what you teach, but I was playing against my team and it wasn’t a good feeling,” said Charles W Saunders’ head coach Dario Burrows.

“I’m thankful for the win but, any other team, we would have gotten beaten.”

As they prepare for game two on Wednesday, Burrows said he just hopes that his injured players are all right and they can regroup as a team and play much better than they did in game one.

For Kingsway Academy, Rajin Smith scored a game high 37 points, Kymain Roberts had 10, Kenton Johnson eight and Ethan Burrows had five in the loss.

The Cougars were simply too much to handle in the first quarter as they were clicking on all cylinders to out-run and out-rebound the Saints to ignite a 26-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Raymone Woods had 17, including a pair of three-pointers to lead their attack.

The Saints, behind the Rajin Smith show, trimmed the deficit to two (37-35) at the half. Smith, who was held to just one in the first quarter, went wild as he connected on four three-pointers on his way to scoring all of their 26 points in the period.

In the third quarter, Charles W Saunders, despite one of their key players suffering an injury on a charging foul, managed to surge ahead 53-44 at the end of the third quarter as another went down just before the break.

In the fourth, the Cougars went back to what got them started in the first quarter as they ran the ball and applied the defense that took the Saints out of their rhythm.

Senior Girls

Giants 37, Comets 35 OT: With 6.1 seconds left on the clock, Rianna ‘Lemon’ Green drove to the basket and scored the game’s winning basket in the extra three minutes. In fact, Green scored all four points for St John’s as they came out with the 37-36 win over the Kingsway Academy Saints.

Green finished with a game high 15 points, Lebernique Demeritte had 20, Kiara Poitier had six, Stevanah Turnquest had four and Camel Stevens helped out with two.

“The last time we played them, they beat us by three points, so this was a pay- back time,” said St John’s head coach Oswaldo Taylor. “The job is not finished yet. Our girls played hard, they tied it up and we ended up going into overtime and we were able to pull it off.”

As for game two, Taylor said once they can rebound the ball better than they did, they will be able to secure the win.

Deshante Sears led Kingsway Academy with 14. Andica Curtis had eight, Michaelya Joseph added five and Kaliah Campbell chipped in with four in a losing effort.

The Saints managed to draw first blood as they surged ahead 12-9 as Sears, with a three-pointer, and Campbell, scored four points apiece.

But in the second quarter as things started to heat up, St John’s went on a tear of their game as they controlled the tempo and the lead 23-19.

In the third quarter, the Comets took the upper hand with a 29-27 lead.

Both teams traded baskets and the lead in the fourth until Demeritte converted one of her two free throws with seven seconds left in regulation to tie the score and send it into overtime.

Junior Girls

Giants 25, Big Red Machine 21: St John’s head coach Malcolm Rahming Jr admitted that there’s no time for his junior girls to celebrate after they took the initial 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series.

Dania Rolle scored six points, Melody Ferguson had five and Marianna Guzman added four to lead a 1-2-3 punch for St John’s, who got a great defensive effort from Zuri Hanna in the middle to seal the deal with their 25-21 win over St Augustine’s College.

“I feel good, but the job is not finished yet. We will finish it up on Wednesday,” said Rahming J.

“I’m proud that we were able to execute today. That made me most proud. It ain’t finished yet. We will celebrate after we win on Wednesday.”

Kailie Moss led SAC with a game high 12 points. Their next best scorers were a trio with Faith Burns, Kiara Knowles and Marae Pick- stock all contributing two apiece.

Once they came from a 1-0 deficit at the beginning of the game, the Giants never relinquished their

lead. They used a 4-0 run on a pair of fast-break bas- kets to pull away from a 6-3 lead to go out 10-3 and they held on for a 10-5 margin at the end of the first quarter.

Although the Big Red Machine put on a trap that resulted in a couple of turnovers as they made a comeback, it still wasn’t enough as they trailed 14-11 at the half. The Big Red Machine continued to roll in the third quarter to tie the score at 14-14 with less than four minutes to go in the third. They tied it twice at 16-16 and 18-18 before the Giants held on for a 20-18 lead at the end of the period.

When it counted the most down the stretch, Hanna clogged up the middle with a couple of defensive stops as the Giants surged to the win.

Junior Boys

Giants 49, Comets 37: With arguably the most dominant player in the junior boys’ league, St John’s and their potent offensive attack pulled away from Queen’s College to snatch a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series.

While Tavez Coleby did his part for St John’s with his towering height, scor- ing 11 points and anchoring the middle on the defen- sive end, D’Alfer Gibson got loose for a game high 20 points in their 49-37 win over Queen’s College.

What the duo didn’t do, Kymani Bowe came through with another 10 points.

“The guys gave it their all and so I’m glad that we got the win,” said Giants head coach Darshtyan Baker.

As they prepare for game two, Baker said they will review the film and make sure that they don’t make

the same mistakes they did in game one.

Amari Neymour scored 10, Talon Higgs had nine and Ethan North six in a losing effort for Queen’s College.

The Giants came out storming to take a 5-0 lead, but the Comets roared back for a 5-5 tie. However, on another 6-0 run, they main- tained their lead with an 11-5 margin at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Queen’s College made it a contest as they soared back to take a three-point lead, 16-13, but St John’s got a run of their own to even the score at 16-16 at the half.

The Giants came out of the locker room and turned it up a notch as they built a double-digit lead, attack- ing the rim. Despite the Comets’ comeback, the Giants stayed ahead 37-25 at the end of the period.

In the fourth, #33 made his contribution on both ends of the floor before he was given a breather with less than five minutes to go and St John’s in control 43-25.

He came back and was a stabiliser down the stretch as the Giants continued to attack the ball.

But, in the final minute, St John’s went deep into their bench as they held on for the win.