By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH Kevin “KJ” Johnson and his CI Gibson Rattlers senior girls and boys’ basketball teams were simply too much for the Government High Magicmen to handle as the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s 2023/24 season swung into high gear following the Christmas break.

While CI Gibson senior girls opened the double header at the DW Davis Gymnasium with a 49-19 rout, their senior boys didn’t have any mercy with a 106-13 massacre in the feature game.

Both of the Rattlers teams, who are the GSSSA defending champions, are playing the season in memory of the late Craig “Rambo” Smith Sr, one of their assistant coaches who passed away last year. They all are wearing “Rambo” on the back of their jerseys and Smith’s son, Craig Jr, is helping to coach the team. in honour of his father.

Rattlers 106

Magicmen 13

This one seemed to be over before coach Johnson switched the combination of players as fast as they went on a scoring spree as his defending champions simply dismantle the youthful Government High squad.

The stats sheet showed Darius Hanna, one of the youngest players on the team, leading the way with a game high 18 points. And just about every player on the team, except for two, contributed at least one point to the victory.

Tashon Butler and Dwayne Finley both had 14, Gerrad Rolle, Stevachko Jacques, Fernando Jean-Noel, D’Neo Smith and Charles Maynard all had eight, Stephon Johnson had seven and Prince Wheatley and Cordae Smith both added six.

“I thought they would have put up a little more resistance than that, but it is what it is,” coach Johnson said. “Coaches have to understand the importance of practicing and preparing your team.

“I’m sure the coach probably called practice and these guys just didn’t come out. But at the end of the day, I played most of my bench and rested most of our starters and we came out with a huge win tonight.”

Johnson said although they won by a huge margin, they will not rest on their laurels because they will be back in the gym, correcting some things they did wrong, especially on the defensive end, so that they can be ready for their next opponents.

The Rattlers opened a 27-2 lead behind Finley’s 12, Butler’s seven and Rolle’s four. They scored another 28 to push their lead to 55-6 at the half, thanks to seven from Johnson.

With a consistent outpouring of 27 in the third, CI Gibson extended their lead to 81-7 and it was just a matter of whether or not they would hit the century mark in the fourth and if Government High would reach ten points.

With four minutes and 41 seconds left in the game, Jeremiah Cadet got the Magic their 10th point number on a three-pointer. But Hanna came back at the other end and canned a three to put CI Gibson up 94With 3:32, Hanna scored another three to inch closer to the century for a 97-13 lead.

Then with 2:47 on the clock, Hanna completed a three-point play that pushed over the mark for a 101-13 advantage. With 2:30 left, Maynard got a steal, drove down the lane on a fast break and finished off with a one-handed dunk, much to the delight of the bench and their fans.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cadet ended up with six points, Rasheed Brennen had five and Dylan Taylor scored the other two points.

After the loss, coach Elkin Sherman said they didn’t prepare for the game as they should have.

“We played against CI. Once these kids hear they are playing the big teams like CI Gibson, they get scared,” Sherman said. “Plus, it’s a lack of practice.

“We had practice over the weekend and only five guys showed up. I want them to compete. This is a young team. The oldest guy is about 16. I have one 12th grader; two 11th graders and the rest are all tenth graders. So, we’re rebuilding for the future, But we have to come out and compete, no matter who we play against.”

Lady Rattlers 49

Magicwomen 19

Philippa Ferguson was almost a one-woman wrecking crew with a game high 24 points, followed by Jada Francis with 11. Brihanna Farrington helped out with seven, Ferelu Sterva had five and Daranique Mackey added two.

In a losing cause for Government High, Trinae Brice scored 12 and Azariah Anderson got the other seven.

Although coach Johnson admitted that it wasn’t his Lady Rattlers; best effort, they showed that they just wanted it a little more as they improved their record to 3-0 in their quest to repeat as champions.

“We didn’t play over the Christmas break, so the girls were a little rusty and winded, they need to get in better shape,” he insisted, “We will definitely do a lot of running and suicides so that we can get to where we need to be.”

While the Lady Rattlers got five from Farrington, four from Ferguson and three from Francis, the Magicwomen could only respond with four from Anderson in the first quarter as CI Gibson jumped out to a 12-4 lead.

By the end of the first half, the Rattlers were up 31-6 as Ferguson reeled off 12 points. Ferguson came out of the break and continued her assault with eight and Francis added three in the third as CI Gibson extended their lead to 42-9.

The question was what would be the final score and despite being down by a bundle, Government High made a gallant effort to reduce the deficit with 10 points as Brice came through with eight and Anderson had two in the final outcome.

“I think we can make the playoffs. Our goal is to make the playoffs,” said Magicwomen’s coach Randy Cunningham. “We are making progress in the right direction.”

They are currently 1-2 in the league standings.