By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

ROUND one of the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association (BGDBA) playoffs is now in the history books for the Police Crimestoppers and Bain & Grants Town Cybots.

The Police Crimestoppers sent the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (MOYSC) Panthers packing for the second straight year, this time with a 2-0 sweep on Saturday night at the DW Davis Gymnasium.

On the other side of the bracket, the Bain & Grants Town Cybots needed a game-winning layup to finish off the Airport Authority Avengers 2-0 in the best-of-three series.

While the Crimestoppers and Cybots brought out the brooms in their series, the Bahamas Department of Corrections (BDOCs) Challengers along with the Nassau Flight Services Ballers tied their series 1-1 against the Real Deal Rangers and Bamboo Shack Patrollers respectively.

Crimestoppers vs Panthers

The Police Crimestoppers did it again. They sent the MOYSC Panthers home for the second consecutive year in a 78-69 victory over the weekend.

Head coach Anthony “Cops” Rolle said the main objective was to put away the Panthers and avoid a game three in the series.

“We needed that win so we could sweep them and possibly get an extra day or two of rest. It was important to put them away quickly because they are a well-coached team and they have good players particularly, Roosevelt Whylly and you cannot take anything for granted. Going into a third game anything could happen, so it was important for us to keep the gas on them and put them away tonight so that we can get some rest,” he said.

It was apparent from the opening tip that the Crimestoppers meant business. The team opened the game with a 16-4 lead and closed out the first quarter up 20-8.

With 7:19 on the game clock in the second quarter, Sirmar Rolle made a layup for the Crimestoppers to extend the lead to 29-13 but then the Panthers showed up to play.

The Panthers shaved the double digit deficit down to 7 (42-35) at halftime. 

The second half began and the Panthers’ Crispin Gibson was fouled by Rolle on a three-point play. Gibson was successful on two out of his three attempts to put the Panthers within 6 (46-40) early on.

Coach Rolle said his team deviated from the formula that got them the lead in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter, they started to play one-on-one ball but that wasn’t what gave us the 16-point lead. The defence was stepping up to my players and they were trying to get the ball over by themselves. I told them to pass it over and then go back and get the ball.”  he said.

The Crimestoppers never gave up too much ground, running out to a 9-0 run to emerge 64-51 to end the third.

Crimestoppers guard Kirklyn Farrington could not be stopped in the fourth quarter. He scored 10 of his 20 points in crunch time. He went on to finish the game with 20 points, four assists and two steals.

Farrington’s hot hand helped the Crimestoppers to keep the Panthers at bay in the final quarter to end their postseason run.

Adam Johsnon and Dion McPhee were both monsters on the glass. Johnson turned in 16 points and 13 rebounds while McPhee posted 12 points and 10 boards.

Roosevelt ‘Chicken’ Whylly contributed a team-high 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists but turned the ball over eight times in a losing effort.

Cybots vs Avengers

The final game of Saturday’s night double header was certainly a nail-biter. It took a game-winning layup from seasoned player Ernest Johnson for the defending champions to prevail 80-78 against the Airport Authority Avengers.

Through three quarters of play, the contest was fairly close between the Avengers and Cybots. The latter had a slight edge 59-57 after the third period which left the game hanging in the balance going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was the Jeremy Neely show. 

The springy guard blitzed the Avengers defence for 10 straight points to start the final period and capped off the night with 19 points, five boards and three assists.

He pushed the Cybots lead to 9 (68-59) with 7:24 to go.

Neely said his hot hand was ignited by trash talk from the opposing team. 

“I went into a trance and I was just locked in after that. There was some chattering going on and I was locked in after that. It was a close game and you cannot underestimate any team because on any night a team could beat you. 

“You still gotta play hard for it and, at the end of the day, we almost lost that game but with our chemistry and experience we were able to come out with a win,” he said.

Despite Neely’s scorching hot hand, the Avengers would not go down without a fight. Devon Brennen did some cooking of his own and scored back-to-back baskets to put the Avengers within five (76-71) at the 2:14 mark.

In the final minutes of round one, Kriston Munroe made a layup for the Avengers which trimmed their deficit to a single point (76-75). However, Rufus Dean committed a foul on the Cybots’ Jeremy Hutchinson, who then drained a pair of free throws that were expected to seal the game at 78-75. 

Coming out of a timeout, the Avengers’ Samuel Fox had Hutchinson leaning and created enough space for a huge game-tying three. 

With the possibility of overtime on the horizon, Saunders blew by his man and finished off a game-winning layup to send the Avengers home with a gut-wrenching loss.

Coach Watson is now looking forward to facing the Crimestoppers in what is a rematch of the 2023 BGDBA Finals.

“We have to capatalise on some of the mistakes that we made. This season we really had a bad offseason with regard to practice. Some of our guys are much older than last year and the consistency in practice just was not there this year. We have to matchup and see what they bring and we will try to counteract as best as possible defensively to try and see if we could stop them.

“We are the champions and you never underestimate the heart of a champion. We are confident that we are gonna win this series and get back to the championship,” he said.

On Friday night, the Nassau Flight Service Ballers defeated the Real Deal Rangers 70-56. 

Abel Joseph carried the team with 17 points, 27 rebounds, five assists, three steals and five blocks.

The BDOCs Challengers narrowly escaped the Bamboo Shack Patrollers 74-73 in game two of the series. Ra’Sean Minns dropped 17 points, 14 boards, 3 dimes and two steals in the win. 

The 2024 BGDBA playoffs will resume at 7:30pm tonight in the DW Davis Gymnasium.